Long Time Gone
by Lorr
Summary: Sheppard's team finds a energy reading on a remote planet and goes to investigate. They lose a team member, but find someone long thought dead. Can they get the lost team member back in the limited time they have?
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Long Time Gone

**Author:** Lorr

**Genre/Rating:** H/C, Drama

**Characters:** Sheppard, Beckett, McKay, Weir, Ronon, Teyla, minor Zelenka

**Disclaimer:** The Stargate universe and characters belong to a whole bunch of people that are not me. I'm here to play.

**Spoilers:** This takes place between McKay & Mrs. Miller and Tao of Rodney, so there are some spoilers right up to that point, but mostly seasons 1 & 2. This story is based on events in at least one episode.

**Warning: **There is what might be felt as a character death, but it will depend on your point of view. I cannot give details here because it would reveal an important story element.

**Note:** I reference another story I wrote, Falling, but it is not really necessary to read it. I think there is sufficient information here to let you know what happened. (Even though I would love for you to read Falling, too!)

Reviews are always appreciated. Please be honest. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy it.

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"What do you think?" Sheppard looked over McKay's shoulder.

The video feed from the MALP indicated the Gate was situated just outside of the remains of a city. McKay slowly panned the camera through ninety degrees left and right then in an upward arc. The Gate seemed to be about a hundred yards from the closest buildings. It appeared the nearest were in worse shape than those further in. The proximity, however, made it impossible to estimate how big the city had been. The Ancient records suggested it was once substantial. Well, more substantial than most seen so far in this galaxy.

McKay maneuvered the MALP so that it moved away from the Gate and turned a full circle, allowing them to see more of the surroundings. A handful of crumbling structures lay further out on a plain. Several miles away, a narrow mountain range seemed to rise straight up several thousand feet from the otherwise flat landscape.

As the MALP's camera revealed more of the area, a slight frown passed over Sheppard's face. Something was vaguely familiar about the planet. He quickly dismissed the notion. They'd seen many planets with ruins in Pegasus, a lot of them only from the MALP's perspective. Well, he supposed, since the Ancients seeded or lived on at least some of these planets, there was bound to be a few similarities in the architecture.

McKay zoomed the camera to its maximum and peered closely at the image.

"Rodney?"

"Hmm?" He instructed the camera to pan back to the city then glanced up at the Colonel. "Oh, yes, yes. We have to go check this one out. The little I've found in the database so far indicates that Ancients did indeed live here. There's also a low level energy reading so the place probably had some fairly advanced technology. We might actually find something worthwhile, for once."

His voice reflected hope along with some of the frustration he felt at the long run of possibilities that ended with nothing to be shown for their efforts. The expedition all too often found that locations holding promise of Ancient technology yielded little or nothing of value. In most cases, the only treasure was the text inscribed on disintegrating ruins. While Atlantis still held secrets enough to keep them busy for years, the hunt for technology in the rest of Pegasus was disappointingly near fruitless.

"Any life signs?" Sheppard asked, trying to read the display on the monitor.

McKay typed a command and studied the readout. "Nope. At least, nothing of any size. Maybe some insects."

"Bugs?"

"Tiny insects." The astrophysicist responded to something he heard in his friend's voice. He then grimaced and muttered, "That probably sting."

"Okay." Sheppard cleared his throat and nodded, barely disguised relief on his face. He turned to the woman standing beside him. "Elizabeth?"

She tried to hide her smile. "You have a go."

----------

One scientist and two technicians followed Sheppard's team and two units of four Marines each through the Gate on M5R-749 to a sunny, warm day. Something not really noticeable on the video transmitted by the MALP was the abundance of miniature wildflowers amongst the grasses that grew there. A gentle breeze caused the slightest swaying, making the colors ripple. It might have been spring.

The party stopped briefly to survey the city. It was larger than it appeared through the MALP's camera. It was by no means as large as the city on Doranda, but thousands of people once lived and thrived here. The plains would have provided ample farming land to support them.

Sheppard looked at McKay, who activated a handheld sensor as soon as he emerged from the Gate. "Rodney?"

The chief scientist scowled at the sensor, turning one way then the other. He began to walk, following an energy reading to its source. Without looking at Sheppard he said, "This way."

As they passed the DHD, the Colonel signaled the Marines to take up flanking positions. Four of the men peeled off in pairs while two remained at the Gate. The Marines moving with the team stayed within easy reach of their commander, carefully scanning the area for unwanted company as they went. Teyla took up position near the scientists and technicians while Ronon brought up the rear with two of the Marines. The further into the city the team walked, the more they all realized just how alone they were. The only other movement they saw was that of the insects, tiny life forms flying from one flower to the next. It appeared that no-one had visited this planet for many years.

"Oh, great, this is all I need." McKay sniffed then wrinkled his nose. He glanced over and saw Sheppard's quizzical expression and emitted a small high-pitched sneeze. "Pollen. I do have allergies, you know."

After a second sneeze, McKay stopped and fished a small packet out of a vest pocket. He tore it open, popped the two white tablets it contained into his mouth and swallowed them with water from his canteen. He cleared his throat and drank more water before putting the canteen away and moving on.

The others waited patiently, knowing that unless McKay got the allergy attack under control, he would be miserable. McKay having a bad day was not a fun prospect.

As they walked, the team noticed something ominous. Most of the buildings appeared to have deteriorated due to great age. There were pockets, though, that indicated sudden, violent destruction. They could not see scorch marks or detect direct evidence of actual explosions, but the pattern of damage was unmistakable against the relative soundness of the remaining structures. Weathering would have erased the signs, but it was apparent that a battle occurred at some time long in the past.

After more than half an hour of winding through wide streets, McKay stopped in front of a three story building defining one side of a decent sized square. He frowned, turned away and then back again. It was nondescript compared to what the structures around it must have been like at their glory. He moved to go in, hesitated, then turned to Sheppard and tilted his head towards the doorway. There were no windows on the outer wall. Except for the sunlight cast near the door from the outside, it was dark in the interior.

"Here. There are multiple energy readings, and one is coming from this place."

"Okay. Stay out here." Sheppard flipped a switch on his P-90 and the light came on as he approached the door. Teyla stepped in next to him. The room was small, but opened out into what appeared to be a larger space through a doorway inside. They slowly entered and examined the walls, but there was nothing to be seen. Any decoration that might have existed faded away long ago.

The space was square and about thirty feet on each side, the ceiling ten or so feet high. Sheppard walked one way around the perimeter, shining the light slowly up and down. Teyla started in the other direction. McKay, unable to wait any longer, pushed his way past a technician and turned on his own flashlight. He quickly toured the room, keeping an eye on the sensor as he walked. Sheppard and Teyla finished their walk around the perimeter and stopped to watch him.

"This is odd." The astrophysicist stood in the middle of the room, pointing the sensor this way and that. The others could see a deep frown on his face in the wash of the flashlights.

"What?" Sheppard looked around the room again.

"There's a low level energy reading here, but it's diffuse. It doesn't seem to be coming from any specific point." He slowly turned on the spot as he aimed the sensor at the floor then the ceiling. "Is there any sign of controls or anything?"

"The walls are quite bare, Rodney. I see nothing." Teyla answered.

Sheppard took one more look around then started for the door. "Same here. Maybe it's on the other side of the wall or on anther floor. Come on."

Outside, he stepped back and checked out the building again. He waved Teyla and Ronon over. "You guys go that way. Take Simmons, Marks and Jensen. We'll head around this way. Be careful."

"If you find anything, let me know immediately. Do not touch it!" McKay sternly admonished the tech holding another sensor.

"Yes, Dr. McKay. Don't worry." One of them answered as they walked away.

"Come on, Rodney." Sheppard walked the opposite direction. McKay and Lindsay, the other technician, followed him. Sgt. Roland brought up the rear.

There were four more entrances to the building. They led to rooms covering the rest of the ground floor and stairs to the upper floors. All of the rooms were empty, anything left behind ten thousand years ago disintegrated and turned to dust. In the last room on the ground floor, McKay found the most probable source of the energy reading.

Part of the outer wall had fallen, allowing light to stream in. At first it, too, seemed empty, but on closer inspection, the internal wall, backing onto the large room they entered from the square, appeared to be faintly etched with Ancient symbols. A slightly raised rectangle with beveled edges centered in the wall held the most promise.

McKay frowned with disappointment at the condition of the room before approaching the panel. He slowly moved the sensor across the wall then pulled off his backpack. Lindsay, one of the techs, scurried forward with his pack already open.

Sheppard tapped his transceiver. "Teyla, Ronon, we found what might a control room of some kind at the southeast corner. Check out the rest of the building on your way here."

"Will do." Ronon's deep voice replied.

----------

"What did you do?" The astrophysicist glared at Marks then at the glowing, humming panel set in the wall.

"I…It was an accident, Dr. McKay. I was just trying to remove some of the dirt."

"We don't know what it is. Turn it off."

"Yes, Sir. Sorry." The hapless technician touched the panel again. Nothing happened. He pushed on the symbol more firmly. Still nothing. He frantically studied the panel and his data pad.

"Oh, for crying out loud. You are supposed to translate, not touch." McKay walked over and studied the symbols on it for a few seconds then pressed three in sequence. The hum and glow died away. He looked at the technician again, his face and voice leaving no doubt as to his anger. "This is the kind of thing that gets people killed! Don't touch anything unless I say so. Got it?"

The technician nodded meekly as McKay walked away, muttering to himself. "Why do they insist on sending me these morons?"

Sheppard turned away from the scientists to look at the sky. The room containing the symbols was really only half a room. A large chunk of outer wall, including the ceiling and wall from the floor above, had long since collapsed. It appeared the damage was caused by an attack of some kind. There was sufficient cover, though, to protect the panel from the worst of the elements.

He put on his sunglasses and walked out into the bright light. They'd been here for several hours and he was tired of standing around. One of the downsides of these little forays was the boredom. The Marines were patrolling the perimeter, a couple of them carrying life signs detectors as an added precaution. Now they just had to wait for the scientists to give up on finding anything of value or the sun to set. It appeared that no matter what, they would be back tomorrow.

Sheppard looked over his shoulder at McKay and sighed. The astrophysicist had gone back to whatever he was doing before the interruption. Simmons and Lindsay quietly worked on equipment he didn't recognize and Marks returned to transcribing the symbols on a data pad. They would definitely be back tomorrow. Three-quarters of the city was still waiting to be searched after Rodney and his people finished here.

----------

The sound started so quietly that it was several seconds before it registered with any of the away team. It grew closer and louder with each of those seconds. As each team member heard it, though, they immediately knew what made that noise.

"Col. Sheppard." Teyla's voice sounded in his ear. It was low but full of alarm.

"Incoming Wraith cruiser!" One of the Marines said urgently into his transceiver. He was trying not to shout, but the fear was audible.

Two or three Darts coming through the Gate was one thing. A cruiser that carried God knows how many Darts as well as the fire power of its own weaponry was entirely different. It was time to go, and fast.

"Leave it and head to the Gate! Now!" Sheppard ordered. He glared at the scientists as they started to pack up. They stopped packing and grabbed only laptops and datapads. "How far, Sergeant?"

"It's moving slowly, Sir. Three minutes, four max."

Everyone ran except Sheppard, leaving the rest of their equipment to its fate. He took two grenades from his TAC vest as they disappeared. McKay looked at the grenades as he ran by the Colonel. He cringed inwardly at the thought of losing the equipment, but they were at least five minutes from the Gate at a flat out run. There was no time to argue.

"Keep going! Make sure they get to the Gate." Sheppard yelled at Ronon, Teyla and two Marines as they ran toward him. They barely slowed down. As soon as everyone was clear, Sheppard pulled the pins and threw the grenades into the room then took off. Seconds later there was a satisfying explosion followed by the sound of falling debris.

The whine of the ship grew louder, drowning out the pounding of running feet but not the sound of hearts beating faster with effort and fear. Sheppard saw two Marines turn out of a side street and head for the Gate at full speed. Moments later two more sprinted out of the building where they had been keeping watch from the roof. One indicated that they, and Sheppard, were bringing up the rear. When they slowed down so that their commander would be ahead of them, he waved them on.

The first blast happened faster than Sheppard hoped it would. He assumed the Wraith detected either the humans or the explosion or both. It was far short, but the ground rocked anyway. Another, much closer, hit followed a second later. The next was somewhere ahead of him. He thought he heard a shout.

Sheer terror kept McKay moving faster than he thought possible. The sound of the approaching ship made him almost forget his racing heartbeat and straining lungs and Lindsay's pounding feet in front of him. As he glanced back, he could see Simmons' face, both white with terror and flushed with effort. Somewhere in the back of his mind, McKay knew his own face was the same.

He glanced over his shoulder again at the sound of an explosion, the shockwave causing him to falter. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Simmons falling sideways, knocked off his feet by the blast.

"Keep moving." Ronon shouted as he veered off to pick up the fallen man.

"Computer! We can't leave it behind." McKay ran toward Ronon, who picked up the data pad and tossed it at him. He barely caught it, juggling both his own and Simmons' pads as he turned to continue the flight. He was relieved to see that someone had dialed the Gate. The wormhole formed as yet another blast hit a building ahead and to the left.

A new sound emerged from the din, higher pitched, more urgent. Darts. Without wanting to, everyone looked skyward then tried to make burning muscles work even faster.

The Satedan swung the limp man over his should in one smooth movement then began to run again. He soon passed McKay. "Faster, McKay!"

Sheppard stopped and fired his P-90 at an approaching Dart. A small puff of smoke appeared from one wing and it veered off. He threw a glance at two of the Marines, who were half carrying a limping Sgt. Roland. They disappeared around the corner of the building. Sheppard fired again then rushed to follow.

Even though the cruiser was out of sight, the roar of the engines was almost deafening. He heard other weapons firing in the direction of the Gate and hoped Teyla and the Marines were clearing the way to safety. He still had a long way to go.

"Go!" He dropped behind a pile of rubble next to two young Marines. They had taken up this position to cover the retreat and Sheppard on their six. "Now! Make sure the others get to the Gate."

"Sir!" They hesitated.

"I'm right behind you. Go!"

The young men took off, keeping as low as they could. They swerved just in time as a Dart swooped by to beam them up. Sheppard fired several rounds at the fast moving craft before following them. He finally turned onto the street where he could see the Gate. It was still two hundred meters away. He saw someone stumble far ahead, possibly Marks. One Marine caught him as another fired his P-90 at a Dart.

"Take him and go." Ronon gave Simmons to two Marines to carry through. He turned to watch the rest of the team members running for their lives.

"Teyla?" He shouted over the din as he closed the distance. "Is everyone through?"

"No. Hurry! There is little time." She yelled back, watching the sky with her P-90 ready to fire.

"Where's Sheppard?" McKay slowed as he neared them.

"I see him coming, Rodney. Go."

"I should…" was all he could say before Ronon pushed him into the event horizon.

----------

"Atlantis, this is Vandean. We have a Wraith cruiser and several Darts on our tail. We're coming in hot!"

"It's his code. Lower the shield." Zelenka turned to the technician sitting at the Gate controls. She hit the pad and the shield dissolved.

Below, a dozen Marines were taking up position while another twenty were emerging from various corridors to add support.

Elizabeth ran from her office. "What's happening?"

"Col. Sheppard's team is under attack by a Wraith cruiser." Zelenka replied as they looked over the railing.

Lindsay was the first to come through, running as fast as he could, and skidded to a stop. He was followed seconds later by Simmons and the Marines carrying him. Moments later, McKay appeared, protesting at being pushed. They were all breathing hard from the exertion, the fear still on their faces.

Elizabeth and Zelenka ran down the stairs, but stopped several steps above the bottom as Marks stumbled through and fell sprawling across the floor. He quickly scrambled to the side. Everyone held their breath as they waited for the rest of the team. What seemed like hours later, two Marines carrying a third appeared.

Infirmary staff quickly removed the injured.

----------

Sheppard strained to see who might have gone through the Gate and who was left on this side. He hoped he counted right between avoiding fire from the cruiser and turning to shoot at the Darts. An all too familiar sound made him duck into a doorway. A millisecond later the beam from a Dart swept along the path where he had been. As it passed, he leaned out and fired. The Dart jerked then exploded.

He poked his head out just enough to check the sky then began to run again. The Gate, and safety, was just fifty meters away. Another blast from the cruiser hit close to his right, nearly knocking him off his feet. As the smoke and dust cleared, Sheppard saw three more figures disappear into the wormhole. Teyla and Ronon were the only ones he could see remaining.

"Go!" He shouted, running as fast as he could. His voice was drowned out by another explosion. This one was near the Gate, but still wide. Debris rained down on the waiting pair, but neither moved. They watched the sky for Darts, weapons tracking where their eyes scanned. Firing at the looming cruiser was useless. It was too well protected from their weapons and hovering out of range.

Sheppard closed the gap quickly. Ronon suddenly turned to Teyla and pushed her through without warning. He waited until Sheppard was just a few strides away before backing through himself, weapon still up and ready to fire. He didn't hear or see the blast that struck the ground mere steps from the Gate a moment later.

----------

Ronon emerged from the puddle and backed away from it. Almost immediately, a shower of dirt and stones followed him. Those close to the Gate scattered. The entire room fell silent except for the soft gurgling made by the event horizon. Thirty Marines, Sheppard's team, everyone waited for him to appear. Seconds ticked by with no sign of the Colonel.

"Where is he?" Elizabeth asked loudly.

Ronon scowled at the shimmering light. "Sheppard was right behind me. He had only four or five more…"

A figure suddenly burst from the puddle. He stumbled a few steps then stopped, looking around. Spotting Elizabeth at the bottom of the stairs, he blinked at her, "Dr. Weir?"

Without another word, he slowly crumpled face down to the floor. No-one moved as they stared in confusion. The Gate shutting down broke their immobility. Instantly, people were moving toward him from all directions. Ronon reached him first.

"Who is this?" McKay demanded, looking from the unconscious man to the Gate in horror. "Where's Sheppard?"

Several sets of hands gently turned him over. The face and hair were very familiar. It was the uniform. It was all wrong. Instead of the black BDUs, he wore a tan colored outfit that might have been a uniform, but no-one recognized it.

Beckett ran up with a gurney and two medical technicians.

"It's Sheppard." Ronon said as they carefully lifted the man to the gurney.

"It must be him." Beckett stated as he looked closely at his face. A long, barely healed cut ran across his cheek from near his right ear to his jaw. "He's injured. We need to get him to the infirmary."

"What happened?" Elizabeth asked as she turned to McKay.

"I don't know." McKay was at a loss. All color had drained from his face as he looked from the gurney that was disappearing down the corridor to the Gate then turned to her. "I don't know."


	2. Chapter 2

Sixty minutes later, Elizabeth, McKay, Teyla and Ronon anxiously waited in the public area of the infirmary. McKay muttered to himself as he paced in tight circles and tapped on his data pad. The others sat or stood silently, trying to fathom the appearance of the man who came through the Gate.

The focus of their concern was in the next room, surrounded by Beckett and four of his staff. The patient was unconscious, but there did not seem to be any undue urgency in the care he was now given. Finally, one by one, the others walked out, leaving only Beckett. They carefully avoided the eyes of the waiting group as they passed. Beckett waved them in.

Sheppard appeared to be just sleeping and the monitors showing normal readings. An IV of saline solution was the only medication they could see. They stared at the cut on his cheek and another that was now visible on his right arm. It started just below the elbow and disappeared under the sleeve of the scrubs he wore. The scars were still raw, indicating the wounds were very recent.

"Carson?" Elizabeth folded her arms tightly, as if trying to keep warm. Her whisper was barely audible.

"He's sleeping." He looked at the data pad in his hand. "We running DNA tests right now, but it'll take a little while to get the results. From what I can tell so far, though, this is John Sheppard. His retinal pattern and fingerprints match. We're also checking his dental records."

McKay stared at him. "It can't be him. Look at the scars. Those are more than an hour or two old. And, the uniform…Wait. Oh, my God.

"Rodney? What is it?" Teyla asked.

He blanched. "It's the uniform the crew wore on the Aurora."

Elizabeth frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"When Sheppard and I were in the virtual environment on the Aurora that was the uniform they wore." He paused for a second, thinking. "Well, not exactly the same, but damn close."

"How could Sheppard be wearing one of their uniforms?" Ronon scowled at him.

"I don't know!" McKay's voice was strained but still quiet.

Elizabeth looked at the bed again. "How long before he wakes up?"

Beckett shook his head slowly. "He could wake up any time. And, yes, you can wait."

----------

The wait was mercifully short. The monitor indicated a slight increase in his heart rate and he took in a long, deep breath. A moment later his eyes opened then he blinked rapidly even though the light was subdued. He looked around at the faces watching him, fixing on Elizabeth's.

"Dr. Weir?"

"John." She smiled tentatively.

"You're okay?" He blinked again when he realized who was standing either side of her. His eyes moved from Beckett to McKay. "How…how did you get here?"

"What do you mean?" McKay responded. "We've always been here."

Elizabeth spoke quietly. "It's okay, John. You were coming through the Gate during a Wraith attack."

"A blast must have hit near the Gate as you came through," McKay added.

"It was touch and go for a moment." Ronon's voice made Sheppard look at him and Teyla, who stood on the other side of the bed.

His eyes narrowed. "You were there?"

"Yes, John, we were. Do you not remember?" Teyla asked uncertainly.

"On Denasus? Sorry, I don't remember…," he frowned as his attention went back to McKay and Beckett. "How did you get here? I thought there was only one ship with a time machine. The city…How did…What's going on?"

He tried to sit up as the others stared at him in stunned silence. It was Beckett that moved first. He touched the bed controls to raise the head with one hand as the other pressed on his patient's shoulder to hold him back.

"You just stay right there, lad. The city is safe." The doctor puller out a penlight and turned it on. "The scan didn't show anything, but you might've gotten a knock on the head."

Sheppard pushed it away. He was obviously confused and worried. "What happened? How long was I out? I had the weirdest dream. The shield around the city failed and the whole place flooded. Only…only…"

His voice trailed off as he looked down and saw the scar on his arm then slowly ran a finger down the one on his cheek. He stared down at the blanket covering his legs and continued to feel the length of the scar for several seconds. The others looked at each other in growing alarm.

"What is it, Colonel?" Beckett finally asked.

"Major. I'm a Major, not a Colonel." Sheppard looked up at him sharply then at Teyla and Ronon. "I'm sorry, but I don't know you. I don't remember ever meeting you."

"John…" Elizabeth started.

"Look, I don't know what's going on here. I was on Denasus, helping with the evacuation when the Wraith attacked. The last thing I remember was diving into the event horizon as fire from one of their ships hit." He looked at Elizabeth, breathing hard, but continued before anyone could stop him. "Only you, Zelenka and I survived in Janis's time machine as Atlantis flooded. Zelenka was killed when we crashed. That was a couple of weeks ago. You were seriously injured and unconscious, so I went to help fight the Wraith." He pointed at the scars. "I got these in the crash. It sounds insane but I know it happened."

"John, you're not insane." She said reassuringly.

He was skeptical. "Then what happened? How did you get here?"

"I don't know what happened, but now you're back in your own time, almost your own time, well, at least the right century. It's 2007."

"2007?" He repeated. "Did I get hit in the head?"

"No. It's true." Beckett tried to reassure him, as if anything could be reassuring right now.

The others watched him closely. He was fighting hard to deal with everything that was happening. If McKay was right, he'd traveled ten thousand years through time twice in a matter of weeks.

"Rodney, are you sure?" Elizabeth asked as she continued to watch Sheppard, who was looking everywhere, but not really focusing on anything. She knew the Sheppard from their own time well enough to know he was processing and compartmentalizing the situation and new information. It was one of the reasons he was able to function so well in the worst of circumstances.

"Yes, Colonel." He snapped his fingers several times. "Sorry, you're a Lt. Colonel in this time. Something must have happened on M5R-749. The Gate was probably hit by a blast from the Wraith cruiser."

"Where is Col. Sheppard?" Teyla asked with urgency.

"Oh, my God! He could still be in the Gate's buffer." He snapped his fingers again. "This happened once before at the SGC. Teal'c was trapped when the Gate shut down after the DHD at the Gate he was coming from was hit by a crashing Goa'uld ship. Col. Sheppard could still be in there. We have to make sure no-one dials in or out." He turned to the door.

Elizabeth thought quickly. "The next check-in with Earth isn't due for five days. We have four teams off-world and can't contact them without dialing the Gate. The Daedalus needs to pick them up." She tapped her transceiver. "This is Weir. Under no circumstances is the Gate to be dialed until further notice. Hail the Daedalus. I need to talk to Col. Caldwell as soon as possible."

McKay's eyes widened. "The Daedalus won't be back in Pegasus until tomorrow. It's going to take her at least another thirty hours to pick up the away teams."

"Wait! What happened?" Sheppard grabbed Elizabeth's arm. "What happened to the Elizabeth Weir I knew?"

Elizabeth turned back. "Oh, God, John, I'm sorry. I know this must be very confusing, but we have to make sure no-one dials the Gate. I'll be back as soon as I can so we can talk."

He let her go and watched them hurry out.

"John?" Beckett touched his shoulder.

He dragged his eyes from the door to look at him. "Yeah?"

The doctor glanced at Teyla and Ronon. "Let me introduce two friends from the Pegasus Galaxy. This is Teyla Emmagan from Athos and Ronon Dex from Sateda."

"Pleased to meet you." Sheppard said without really feeling it. He was still struggling to come to terms with what yet another massive change in his life in all too brief a time. He frowned at Beckett. "Is it really 2007? We're on Atlantis?"

"Yes and yes. It's a long story and I'll let Elizabeth tell you." He looked at the others. "I think we should let Col….Maj. Sheppard get a little rest."

If someone asked Beckett later, he got the impression that Sheppard stared right through him and across ten thousand years. Beckett remembered that this Sheppard, if all turned out as they suspected, was on Atlantis for mere minutes in his own time. He knew nothing of what transpired over the last three years and was trying to grasp moving so many millennia twice in the relative space of weeks. Just the notion of it was overwhelming to the doctor.

"Look, if what McKay said is true, I've been resting for a long time. I feel fine. Let me get up and look around." With that, Sheppard held up the hand with the IV needle. When Beckett hesitated, he suggested, "You can have someone stay with me at all times. Call security and get an armed guard if you want."

"Maj. Lorne is busy at the moment. We will stay with him, Carson, if that is alright with you, Major." Teyla volunteered.

"I don't know." The doctor tried to put him off.

"Doc, I'm fine. You said the scan didn't show anything." He raised a questioning eyebrow.

Beckett compressed his mouth as he considered the Major's request. He finally relented. "Okay, for a little while. We don't know what the affects might be from being stored in the Gate for so long, so I don't want you wandering about all day."

The Major smiled in relief. "Thanks, Doc. I'll be home before dark."

"You'll be back here in two hours. No arguments."

----------

"Rodney, are you sure about this? How could it happen?" Elizabeth asked in hushed tones as they entered the transporter.

He shook his head as he tapped on the data pad that seemed to have become an extension of himself over the years. "No, I'm not really sure and I don't know how it happened. It's impossible. This just isn't possible!"

"Well, can we get our John Sheppard back?" She demanded as they exited the transporter near Gate ops.

He kept working. "He has to be in the Gate buffer. First, the Daedalus needs to go pick up the off-world teams so they don't try to dial in."

"I know, Rodney. What do we need to do to get John out?"

He sat down at one of the consoles and looked up at her. "Give me some time. You just make sure the Daedalus contacts the teams off-world. I'll get him back."

----------

He looked at Teyla then Ronon, carefully sizing them up, as they left the infirmary. "You're friends of…your Sheppard?"

"Yeah." Ronon spoke for the first time. He was clearly having problems with the situation, but was willing to keep an open mind for now.

He accepted the one word answer and the feeling behind it. They walked in silence for several yards before he asked, "So it's 2007 on Earth?"

"Yes, I believe so." Teyla smiled at the familiar stranger. "You would not have seen the city on the surface of the water, correct?"

"No." He shook his head slowly then brightened. "We're on the surface? Really?"

"Yes, we are."

"Cool. Atlantis had been underwater for a while by the time we arrived. The Lantians turned off a lot of the exterior lights in the outer areas of the city to conserve power. It was an amazing place, though. Kind of like something out of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea."

"Is that a movie?" Teyla asked slowly.

"Yeah. No. Well, it was a story written by Jules Verne. They made movies out of his books." Sheppard saw their uncertainty. "He was this guy who wrote science fiction books more that a hundred years ago. You have to remember that the first flight on Earth was only a hundred years ago. Verne was a visionary. A lot of what he wrote came true. Like this place."

"You have cities like Atlantis on Earth, Major?"

"No, no, of course not. At least I don't think so." His eyes narrowed and he shrugged. "Who knows? I didn't know about the Stargate until just a few weeks before we came here. I've read a lot of the SGC mission reports, but who knows what else is out there."

He stopped, staring at the scar on his arm for several seconds. When he looked up at them, his eyes were troubled. "Sorry. It's going to take a little while to wrap my head around this. What happened here? What happened to Dr. Weir, the one that I knew?"

"You don't know?" Ronon asked. Teyla had recounted the story of the other Elizabeth to him, but he never completely believed it. Seeing this man that was Sheppard, but wasn't, was making him think again.

Teyla was sympathetic, but thought it best to wait for the Elizabeth of this time to tell him. "If you will be patient, Major, I know Dr. Weir would wish to tell you everything. We are on the way to see her now."

"I suppose if I've waited ten thousand years, a few minutes more won't hurt." He nodded and resumed walking down the corridor.


	3. Chapter 3

Elizabeth heard a sharp intake of breath from someone behind her and turned to see Sheppard walking slowly across the floor below with Teyla and Ronon on either side. She was struck by the familiar leisurely gait, his hands stuck in pants pockets. Someone had found him a black t-shirt, grey pants and boots. Except for the raw scars and slightly longer, even more unruly hair, it was the man she knew so well.

She caught herself. This wasn't the man she knew. This one didn't know what they had been through over the last three years. He was not a close friend and integral part of this expedition. He was someone whose life had taken a vastly different path the day he walked thorough the Gate. His world and time were gone, with everyone he knew. Her thoughts went back to the other Elizabeth, and of the deep sorrow she felt at the deaths of all the members of her expedition. She knew that despite John Sheppard's determination to mask his feelings, he would feel that same loss and sorrow, as well as the relief and satisfaction that this expedition survived.

Everyone in the Gate room, upstairs and down, strained to get a glimpse of Maj. Sheppard. He, in turn, tried to take in the whole space as if he was coming home after a long absence. The entire space was flooded with daylight, something he hadn't seen before. Sunshine streamed through the windows. Teyla noticed that, while he seemed pleased, Sheppard's eyes still had a dark shadow lurking in them.

"Did you not expect to return to Atlantis, Major?"

"No." He said matter-of-factly as they started to climb the stairs. "None of us did."

Elizabeth met them at the top of the stairs. "Carson released you from the infirmary?"

"Just for a while." Sheppard answered with a faint smile. He glanced around the consoles in ops, recognizing about half of the people busily working at the various stations. The unfamiliar faces disturbed him and the expression on McKay's face did nothing to help. It was too much like the one the astrophysicist had when the city began to flood. He looked back at Elizabeth. "Do you have a few minutes?"

She'd done everything she could for the moment. The Daedalus had been redirected to pick up the off-world teams. She was grateful none were due back for at least two days. There was time to forestall their dialing in as long as they had no emergencies. She glanced at McKay, who immersed in what he was doing.

"Of course."

As they turned, Sheppard noticed the door to the balcony. Without a word he went over to it. He walked outside when it opened. Elizabeth, Teyla and Ronon followed.

"What is it, John?" Elizabeth asked in concern.

He looked around with an air of wonder. After several seconds, he seemed to remember they were there and smiled at them.

"Sorry. The city was submerged when we got here. The Ancients had begun the evacuation back to Earth, and power to much of it was shut off. It was kind of difficult to see just how big a place it is." He looked around once more before going back inside. "Janis said he would try to think of a way to save the city, but I really didn't believe he'd figure it out. Do you know what he did? How it survived?"

"Let's go into the conference room where we can talk." Elizabeth led the way. Once the doors were closed and they were seated, she took a deep breath. This was not going to be easy. "You asked how Janis was able to save the city. It was with Elizabeth's help."

Sheppard's smile froze in suspicion. "How?"

"Janis figured that he might be able to make the ZPMs last until we arrived three years ago by rotating them. He shut down everything possible until there was only just enough life support to keep the air breathable and the shields holding the ocean back. To keep the city safe, the Gate was programmed to accept an incoming wormhole only from Earth." She paused.

"But? Sounds like there's a 'but' coming." He said with a cold feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.

The memory was painful but Elizabeth continued in an even voice. "The ZPMs had to be rotated manually at certain intervals. Someone needed to stay behind to do it."

Sheppard looked away for a moment. "Aw, crap. She stayed after all. I take it she was in a stasis chamber."

"I'm sorry, John."

Teyla asked. "How did you know about the chamber?"

"There's a chamber in the Antarctic outpost, but I was also on one of the Ancient ships, the Perollinum, for a couple of days. They had pods similar to the chamber for long, deep space voyages. They told me the pods might sustain life for hundreds, possibly even thousands of years." He licked his lips before asking what he needed to ask. "What happened to her, to the Dr. Weir of my time?"

Elizabeth spoke quietly. "She was found and revived a few months after we arrived in the city. You, the Sheppard from this time, Lt. Ford and Teyla found her in one of the labs. She was alive but very old."

"Oh, God." He closed his eyes for a moment then nodded. "Go on."

"The stasis chambers sustain life for a very long time, but they don't halt the aging process altogether. She knew what she was doing, John. She didn't want to go to Earth with the Ancients when there was the slightest possibility of saving the expedition that was to come in ten thousand years."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" He said with resignation in his voice.

Teyla hesitated then spoke. "Elizabeth did not know you survived the crash. Janis indicated only she lived. Why?"

"The Council was hardnosed about trying to help us get back to our time. They were so pissed we were there at all, especially with Janis. Building the time machine had been forbidden." He shook his head slowly at the memory.

"She told us that her appearance was less than welcome."

"Yeah. Well, Janis and a couple of the other Ancients were more sympathetic, but we couldn't budge the Council. The war with the Wraith was deteriorating quickly, and they'd already started evacuating to Earth. There was a shortage of pilots, so when they realized I the gene, they let me help out." He smirked. "A few of them were less than happy that a lowly human from the future could work their technology as well as they did."

Elizabeth was surprised at that fact. "Really?"

"Some of them were okay, but most were arrogant asses." He chuckled then shook his head, the humor disappearing. "Damn. She was supposed to go to Earth. I knew the odds of coming back were slim to none and I didn't want Dr. Weir to wait to see if I came back, so I asked them to tell her I was dead. If I survived, she'd be upset. If not, I knew, well, thought, she'd be safe on Earth with them."

"Wait a minute, what was the name of the ship?" Ronon, who had been watching silently, suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Sheppard frowned then realized what he meant. "Oh, the Perollinum? She was a carrier. Damn, those things were enormous."

"A carrier?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah. At full strength, she had well over 200 Gate ships. By the time I saw her, there were barely three dozen left. We lost a few during skirmishes around two other planets before getting to Denasus."

"What happened to her?"

"She was destroyed over the Denasus. We kept the Wraith busy for the better part of a day, but she was so severely damaged during the battle she couldn't make the jump into hyperspace. We were ferrying her crew down to the surface so they could get out of there through the Gate. My ship was clipped by a shot from a Wraith fighter as I landed. The other Ancient ship, the Fincorius was still able to make the jump into hyperspace so she picked up the remaining ships as soon as everyone we could find went through the Gate. As far as I know, I was the last person to leave."

Ronon looked pointedly at the two women. "That's the ship John talked about when he was sick."

"Excuse me?"

Elizabeth explained. "Our John Sheppard was seriously injured in a fall not long ago. He developed a fever and became delirious. He thought we were Ancients. At one point in his delirium, he talked about a rendezvous with the Perollinum, and asked to make sure Elizabeth went to Earth with us. John didn't want us to tell her he survived the crash."

Sheppard thought hard about that for a while. He finally shook his head. "Did he read that somewhere in the database? I didn't think they had time to…"

"No. Your name is nowhere in the database. Neither was mine, hers. There is mention of a few pilots going out to meet the ship, but there were few details. Rodney had to do some digging to find the information. He said it was the first time that it had been accessed since the Ancients left the city."

"Then how could he know?" Sheppard asked as one of the doors opened and McKay entered.

"We have a problem." The astrophysicist said as he frowned at his data pad. "I don't think Sheppard, our Sheppard, is in the Atlantis Gate buffer."

Ronon sat forward. "What do you mean? Where is he?"

Elizabeth almost didn't want to ask. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, well 99 sure. I haven't been able to find any trace of him here so far." McKay fidgeted with the pad for a moment then looked at the faces around the table. "He has to be in the Gate on M5R-749. We need to get there fast."

"How long will his pattern stay in the Gate's memory?"

"Ten thousand years, even though it's impossible." He pointed at the Major, his voice tinged with a frantic edge. "I don't know how long. Why am I supposed to know everything?"

"McKay."

Sheppard's voice brought him up short and he stared at him. The terrible scars were not visible from where he stood so he only saw a man that was his friend. No, it was a duplicate of his friend, down to the intonation in his voice and expression in his eyes.

"Rodney?" Elizabeth finally broke the moment.

"Uh, yes. After what happened to Teal'c on Earth, I would have said several days, maybe weeks, provided no-one dialed the Gate. We never got the chance to find out for sure. As we can see, though, several millennia are not out of the question. To be honest, I don't know exactly how long we might have. Obviously, the Gate was hit by a blast from the Wraith ship just as Sheppard", he frowned at the reference, "stepped through. I don't even know for sure if he's on 749. I won't know until we get back there."

"Does that mean the Gate here can be used?" Elizabeth asked hopefully.

"No." McKay shook his head as he tapped on the data pad. "I haven't finished running diagnostics on this Gate. The explosion on the other end might have caused damage here. Until that's finished and I can check out the Gate on 749, we shouldn't risk it."

"How did they get Teal'c out on Earth? Can you do the same thing?"

"No. This is different. Teal'c's pattern had been transmitted and was in the buffer on Earth." He paused for a moment to think. "I don't think we can risk trying to get him back out on 749. I'll need to figure out a way to complete the transmission and send him to the Gate here."

"Where's the Daedalus?" Ronon asked.

"She's on her way back from Earth. It'll take her nearly 52 hours to pick up the off-world teams and get back here. Then it's another six to get to the planet."

"We can't just sit and wait." The Satedan growled.

"Well, I'm sorry, but we have to." McKay snapped.

"Rodney." Elizabeth glared at him.

"It's going to take a while to finish running tests on this Gate and get together what I need to take to 749." He paused and they could see he was deeply worried. "Look, there's no other way to get there. We have to wait for the Daedalus, and she has to get to the off-world teams before they can dial in."

Teyla asked, "What can we do?"

"Nothing." McKay pointed at the door. "I need to finish the diagnostics on the Gate and prep what I'll need on 749."

"Thank you, Rodney." Elizabeth nodded and stood up. "I'll let Col. Caldwell know the status."

"Good luck." Sheppard said quietly as they left.

"Yeah, thanks." McKay stared at him for a long time before following Elizabeth out.

Sheppard watched them leave. He wanted nothing more than to follow, do something, but knew he couldn't. Besides, what could he actually do? This was McKay's area of expertise. He turned to see Teyla and Ronon watching him.

"How did Janis manage to make sure the city survived?" He asked, glancing back at the door.

Teyla responded quietly. "He arranged it so that the ZPMs could be rotated in the hope that there would be sufficient power to maintain the shields once the expedition from Earth arrived. He was not able to guarantee how long the power would last, but once the levels reached a certain point, the mechanism anchoring the city to the bottom of the ocean would release and allow the city to rise to the surface."

Sheppard blinked in amazement. "Damn, that must have been something. Were you two here?"

"No. I got here a year and a half ago." Ronon answered. He still had reservations about this man, but was beginning to relax a little.

"Yes, it was quite an amazing event." Teyla decided to keep the narrative simple. Both she and Ronon knew from experience and accounts they heard from others that Sheppard could absorb and use information that would stop most people in their tracks. He had a remarkable ability adapt to new situations faster than anyone else they knew, even McKay. This situation, though, was a little much to expect of anyone, even him.

"The ZPM was nearly out of power and the shield began to fail soon after the expedition arrived, but more slowly than when you came here. There was time to send a team through the Gate to search for ZPM or an alternative location until a ZPM could be found. They came to Athos, my world. While there, the Wraith attacked and took some of my people and some of your team. Col. Sumner and I were among the captives."

"Col. Sumner? Where is he?" Sheppard asked with interest. He'd been wondering why his CO was absent.

A dark frown passed over her face. "I am sorry, he died on the Wraith hive ship. Col. Sheppard and Lt. Ford rescued us. Soon afterward, the ZPM power levels reached a critical level and the city returned to the surface. John asked me to join his team."

"Smart man." Sheppard said with a grin. He liked this young woman. Her openness and warmth made it impossible to feel anything else.

"You should know that the incident caused the Wraith to awaken. As far as we can tell there are at least fifty Hive ships, perhaps more. They were not due to awaken for many years." She paused. "Do you know what culling is?"

"Oh, yes." He replied with feeling.

"It seems that Col. Sumner was interrogated by the caretaker on the Hive. She discovered the existence of Earth and the size of its population. When she was killed the rest of her Hive awakened. Word of the new, rich feeding ground spread quickly. We believe all of the Hive ships have now become active."

"The Wraith are taking human they can find." Ronon added.

"They were not supposed to waken for many years, Major. There are not enough humans to sustain them all."

"Great." He folded his arms across his chest and frowned. After thinking in silence for several seconds, he asked, "Has there been any contact with Earth?"

"Yes, there is frequent contact, both through the Stargate and the Daedalus." She paused, wondering how much she should tell him then decided to continue. He would need to know about these events if he were going to live in this time. "About a year after the expedition arrived, it was discovered the Wraith were on their way to attack Atlantis. In an effort to let the people on Earth know what was happening, Rodney found a way to send a message. It contained mission reports, all of the data that had been gathered to that point and messages from the expedition members to their families.

"Just as the Wraith were about to arrive, reinforcements came through the Gate from Earth. Col. Everett, the commander, said that a ZPM had been found on Earth. We held out against the Wraith until the Daedalus arrived with the ZPM."

"The Daedalus? She's a ship from Earth?"

"Yes, it is similar to…to…" She tried to remember the name of the ship, "The Prometheus. It is in the same class of ship as the Prometheus."

"Cool. What happened? Were the Wraith defeated?"

"No, however, Col. Sheppard came up with a daring plan that enabled us to trick the Wraith into thinking that we destroyed the city."

Sheppard sat forward, an incredulous expression on his face. "How the hell did you accomplish that?"

"Dr. McKay and Dr. Zelenka…"

"Zelenka's alive?" Sheppard grinned in relief then rolled his eyes. "Well, of course he is. Sorry."

"Yes, alive and well." She smiled back at him, understanding that this had to be more confusing to him as it was to herself. "They devised a way to use the cloaking device on the Puddle Jumpers to hide the city."

"Puddle Jumpers?" He said in disbelief.

Teyla frowned, wondering at his question. "Oh, yes. That is what John named the ships you call Gate ships."

He waved a hand and chuckled. "I know what they are. That's what I called them. The Ancients were less than impressed. What was…Sheppard's…this is weird, talking about myself in the third person, even though it is another me. What was his plan?"

She took a long breath and continued, "We used a nuclear bomb from the Daedalus to make the Wraith think we destroyed the city. It blinded their sensors. When Rodney thought it was safe, he switched from the shield to the cloak. The Wraith thought the city was gone, so they left."

Sheppard sat back again, absentmindedly rubbing the scar on his arm. "Wow. That was a big risk to take. The Wraith fell for it?"

"Completely. We were able to keep the existence of the city a secret for a long time."

He caught the past tense. "Past tense? They know it survived?"

"Some of them do." Ronon's deep voice rumbled.


	4. Chapter 4

"Elizabeth?" Dr. Beckett said as he approached her in Gate ops.

"Thank you, Colonel. Atlantis out." She tapped her ear transceiver and raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, Carson? Do you have some news?"

"Aye, I do. Can I talk to you for a moment?" He tilted his head toward her office. She nodded and headed for it.

Realizing Elizabeth was walking away, McKay looked up from the computer and hurried after them. "Wait, wait. What's going on?"

Beckett said nothing until they were in her office. "Well, just as we thought, that is John Sheppard."

"Really? You're sure?" McKay asked, half surprised.

The doctor winced and nodded his head. "And, just as we thought, it isn't."

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth frowned at him.

Beckett held up one hand. "The man that came through the Gate is John Sheppard. We've matched thirteen of thirteen loci in the standard DNA test. Along with the fingerprints, retinal pattern and dental chart, I am certain it's him. The thing is that his DNA is a match for the Sheppard that came from Earth three years ago. What's missing is the protein marker from the retrovirus, the tooth he chipped a few months ago is no longer chipped, and a couple of scars that John got since he's been here are gone. It's him, three years younger, but it's him."

"What about the…?" McKay waved at his cheek.

"Rodney, those scars are still fairly new. John said he got them when the Jumper crashed. The level of healing would be about right."

"I would think the Ancient's medicine would have done a better job of healing the injuries." Elizabeth observed.

Beckett shook his head slowly. "You have to remember the Ancients had been at war for some time. From what I've read in the database, their resources were severely stretched. The Major's injuries are healed well beyond what they would have been using our medicine."

McKay dropped onto one of the chairs. "Oh, my God. I knew it. I didn't really believe it, but I knew it."

"Well, who did you think that was, Rodney?" Beckett stared at him in exasperation.

"I was kind of hoping that something happened during transit in the wormhole." The astrophysicist looked at them. "Sheppard, our Sheppard, is definitely not in the buffer of our Gate. There's no trace of him in there."

"Rodney, please tell me John might be in the Gate on 749." Elizabeth looked at McKay.

His expression was bleak. "I hope so."

She looked back at the doctor. The tension in his whole being told her there was something more. "Carson? What is it?"

He bit his lip, eyebrows knitted in a deep frown. "I need to do more tests, but I'm afraid there may be a problem."

"What do you mean?" McKay

Beckett just shook his head. "I hope it's nothing, but I want to make sure before I say anything."

Elizabeth only partially hid her distress. "John's in the conference room with Teyla and Ronon."

----------

"Well, am I who we think I am?" Sheppard raised an eyebrow at the doctor and Elizabeth as they entered the room.

Beckett nodded. "Aye, you are Maj. Sheppard, the one who went back ten thousand years."

"Well, that's a relief." He grinned then noticed the serious expressions. The grin faded. "But? There's a 'but', right?"

"It's probably nothing, but I just want to do a few more tests, if you don't mind, Major."

"Yep. There's always a 'but', isn't there?" Sheppard stood up. Teyla and Ronon followed suit. "You don't have to baby sit me. Just send…"

"Dr. Weir? Sorry, I'm late. We had a…" Someone new entered and stopped dead. "Colonel. I was told there was a problem and you weren't back yet."

Sheppard turned and held out his hand, the scars now plainly visible, and noticed. "Wrong Sheppard, Major."

"Maj. Lorne, this is Maj. Sheppard." Elizabeth was unsure how to explain this without going into great detail. The short version just didn't do the situation justice. "Do you remember the woman found in the stasis chamber here almost two years ago?"

Lorne was trying not to stare. He forced himself to look at her. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Well, for one thing, Maj. Sheppard was not killed in the crash after all. He survived and some time later became trapped in the Stargate on M5R-749." She swallowed hard. "We think Col. Sheppard is now trapped in the Gate there."

"Excuse me? Col. Sheppard is trapped in the Gate?" Lorne glanced swiftly at Sheppard.

"Rodney is working on it."

"If you'll excuse us?" Beckett broke in as he edged towards the door.

"Yes, of course. I'm sorry." Elizabeth was apologetic. She glanced at Teyla and Ronon.

Ronon saw her unspoken request. "I don't mind staying with him."

"Nor do I." Teyla smiled gently.

"What's going on?" Lorne asked in confusion.

Sheppard held up one hand as he started to follow Beckett. "Don't look at me, I just got here."

"Major, I'll fill you in." Elizabeth said quietly. She knew Beckett needed time for the tests, and one more person tagging along was not going to help. She waited for them to get well out of earshot before recounting what they knew so far.

"Whoa. So it's certain that is the Maj. Sheppard who went back in time?" When she nodded, Lorne shook his head slowly then glanced towards the ops area. "Col. Sheppard?"

"Rodney thinks he could be trapped in the Gate buffer on 749, but our Gate could be connected somehow."

"So, we can't dial out or in?" He exhaled heavily. "I take it the Daedalus is picking up the off-world teams. When is she due back?"

"She's on her way to them now, and will be back here in a little over two days. She'll take Rodney and a team back to the planet to get John out."

He knew better than to ask about the chances of the plan working.

----------

"I suppose you saw a fair bit of the infirmary…" Beckett began to ask…"before."

"You've redecorated." Sheppard looked around as they walked through an area of the infirmary he didn't see earlier. He suddenly realized Beckett might expect a response. "Hmm? No, not really. They patched me up and got me out quickly. There were a lot of wounded people coming through here so they needed the space."

"Oh, yes, of course." Beckett desperately tried to think of something to talk about. This was uncomfortable for him. The man walking beside him was Sheppard. The expressions and mannerisms were exactly the same. So, too, were the ready smile and easy gait. It was very uncomfortable. "Uh, I examined the wounds when you came in. You got them in the crash, right?"

"Yes."

"They're quite far along in the healing process, but I didn't see any evidence of stitches. If you don't mind my asking, how did the Ancients close them?" Beckett led them into an open area and indicated an exam table. Sheppard perched on it.

He shook his head and twisted his arm to examine the long scar. "To be honest, I really don't know what they did. When I woke up, I was covered in some kind of bandage. It hurt like hell for the first day, but after a day or so, they took the bandages off and everything was pretty well closed up."

Teyla and Ronon waited nearby. They, too, were still having difficulty accepting the situation. She had the advantage of knowing the other Weir, of having time to understand a little of what happened so long ago. Ronon, though, was taking it in on a gut level. The Sheppard he knew was trapped in the netherworld of the Gate and this copy was here instead.

A moment later, a nurse entered with a covered tray. She set it on a wheeled table and pushed it next to the doctor. He pulled the cover off to reveal a venipuncture kit with four vacuum tubes. Sheppard sighed as he pushed up his sleeve. "And, here I thought I wouldn't have to go through this again."

Beckett gave him a small, brief smile then began the preparations to draw blood. "Sorry. I'll make it as quick and painless as I can."

"Take your time. It seems I have a lot more than I thought I did." He said with a lopsided grin but it faded quickly. Even from the little Sheppard knew of him, Beckett was too quiet and somber. Something had him worried. "What's going on?"

Beckett took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak. He closed it again and shook his head as if making a distasteful decision. "I don't know. Like I said, it may be nothing, but I want to be sure."

"Sure of what?" The Major persisted.

Beckett looked into the steady hazel eyes he knew so well. The perfect duplication was unnerving. It was hard to look into those eyes. He tried to cover his discomfort by concentrating on the task at hand.

"There was an anomaly in the blood panel. I need to run a few more tests to determine whether there really is a problem or the sample was somehow contaminated."

"How long will it take?"

"I should know something by tomorrow morning." Beckett placed a ball of cotton over the spot where the needle entered the skin, loosened the rubber strap and pulled the syringe from Sheppard's arm. He dropped the needle into a waste receptacle then taped the cotton to his arm. He smiled his best bedside smile but avoided looking into those eyes. "Now, I want to get you under the scanner again. It won't take long."

"Doc…Carson." Sheppard dipped his head a little and kept his voice low. "It's okay. I know that this is weird. Believe me, I understand."

Beckett suddenly realized that the situation must be monumentally more difficult for the man sitting in front of him. He relaxed a little and nodded. "Aye, I should imagine so. I'm sorry. Now let's get you under the scanner then you can go get a bite to eat."

He paused for a moment then looked sharply at Sheppard. The Colonel was always hungry. A maddeningly efficient metabolism and seeming inability to sit still for any length of time made the pilot burn calories quickly. Beckett had always been a tiny bit jealous of his friend's capacity to eat whenever and whatever he wanted and not gain an ounce. It was worrying him that this Sheppard hadn't once mentioned being even a little peckish.

"You must be getting hungry by now." He asked as they walked to the room that housed the scanner.

Sheppard thought for a second and shook his head once. "No, not really."

"When was the last time you ate?"

"Oh, about ten thousand years ago, give or take." The wry response was fast.

"You know what I mean."

The Major drew his brow down in thought. "It was several hours before I went into the Gate, so relatively speaking it was about twelve, maybe fifteen hours ago."

"Well, I suppose being stuck in the Gate all that time has probably played havoc with your appetite." Beckett led him through to the room with the scanner as he spoke. "I'm sure it'll come back as soon as you've settled down. How are you feeling?"

Sheppard tilted his head slightly to one side and back. "A little tired, but okay otherwise."

"What time of day was it when you entered the Gate?" Teyla asked.

"Oh, um, it was late afternoon there. We'd already covered the evacuation of two other planets. We arrived about 24 hours earlier. It was a huge agricultural research station. More than 20,000 people originally lived on the planet. By the time we got there, about 6,000 were left, but it was taking too long to get them out. The Wraith were just over a day away so the Perollinum and Fincorius were dispatched to cover the evacuation."

"Did everyone come to Atlantis?" Beckett asked, trying to figure out how long it would take that many people to come through the Gate.

Sheppard shook his head. "No, the Gate here was alternately receiving evacuees from a dozen planets and then sending them to Earth. Most of the people were routing through other planets where they would be safe until the Gate here was free. It was a logistics nightmare."

"Were you able to get everyone off the planet?" Ronon's deep voice startled them. He had been quieter than normal, if that was possible.

The Major glanced over his shoulder at him, his expression darkening. "No. We lost at least several hundred on the ground, more than a dozen Jumper pilots and about a hundred crew on the Perollinum and Fincorius. Some on the ground were taken by the Wraith."

"Culled." Teyla stated flatly.

"They've taken a lot of Athosians, haven't they?" He asked gently before he got up on the exam table under the scanner.

"Yes, many of my people have been culled over the years." She did not elaborate. It was better left for another time. She thought they should return to his story. "Why would they wait so long to abandon an agricultural research station? Was it so important?"

"There was some technology the Ancients didn't want to fall into the hands of the Wraith. From the little I could gather the research was to do with trying to find a way to affect the organic elements of the Wraith ships."

Sheppard didn't see the expressions of interest on their faces as he settled himself on the table.

"Do you know if they were successful in their research?" Teyla kept her voice calm.

"I got the impression that they were expecting a breakthrough. That's why they stayed so long. They wanted to get the results of a couple of experiments that were nearly finished. The Ancients were also determined to get as much of their equipment out of there that they could or destroy it. I didn't get details, though. It was a little chaotic."

"Yes, of course." Teyla said thoughtfully. "If you do not mind, I need to speak with Elizabeth for a moment."

Beckett nodded, understanding what she meant. "I need Maj. Sheppard to be quite still for this, anyway. We'll be here a while yet."

----------

Sheppard was feeling the length of his day. Relatively speaking, he'd been up for more than 36 hours, and his body was dealing with the adrenaline draining excitement of devastating battles over three planets in a few days. Beckett finally let him go again after another two hours of tests. The doctor wanted him to come back to the infirmary to rest after this discussion. Teyla and Ronon were under very strict instructions to bring him back within three hours.

They took him straight back to the conference room after he declined the offer of a meal. Instead, he drained one bottle of water and most of another. The nearly empty bottle sat on the table in front of him. Elizabeth and McKay were there, too.

"Some of us were ferrying the crew down from the Perollinum after she was damaged and couldn't make the jump to hyperspace. The only way for them to escape was through the Stargate. The Fincorius was doing her best to keep the Wraith from destroying the carrier while we got her crew off. All of the Jumpers were either doing that or engaging the Wraith fighters."

"Darts. We call them Darts." McKay interjected quickly.

"Darts, then." Sheppard glanced at him as he continued his story. "I know only what I told you before. The Ancients were working on some kind of weapon that would degrade the organic nature of the Wraith ships. I don't know how close they were to getting what they were after."

"Well, this is probably a waste of time." McKay commented sarcastically.

"Rodney." Elizabeth warned. She didn't have the patience for his attitude today.

"Look, they were tight-lipped about the project. I wasn't supposed to be there, remember? I only found out what I did because there were a couple of scientists on board that were going to Denasus to help remove some of the equipment. They were excited that Janis's time machine worked, so they were happy to talk to me. They said two of the experiments were very promising, but that's all."

"You mentioned that some of the research was in agriculture. It is curious that they would do experimentation on a weapon against the Wraith at the same location." Teyla wondered aloud. "Would it not be dangerous?"

The Major shrugged. "It could be there was something in the research that pointed them to the possibility of a weapon. Who knows? I gave up trying to figure out why the Ancients did a lot of things they did really fast. They had some weird ideas about a lot of stuff."

"Yeah, I'm with you there." McKay agreed. He thought for a moment. "This is a long shot, but have you ever heard of a ship called the Aurora?"

He shook his head. "No. Why?"

"Well, she was carrying a communiqué that was supposed to reveal a weakness in Wraith technology. I was just wondering if the work on 749 might be related to it."

"Sorry, I just don't know." Sheppard frowned at McKay. "Have you found out anything about getting your Sheppard back?"

McKay pushed his chair back and stood up. "No, and there isn't much I can do until we get to the planet."

"Okay, it's late. I think that's enough for one day." Elizabeth stood up and smiled at Sheppard. He was noticeably weary. "Dr. Beckett said you are supposed to go and get some rest. I should think you must be exhausted."

He sighed and stood up. "Yeah, it's been a long day."

----------

The doctor finally shooed Teyla and Ronon out of the infirmary just before midnight. Maj. Sheppard had been sleeping for more than two hours and there were plenty of staff to keep an eye on him, including one particularly large, burly male nurse who'd just come on duty.

"If you two want to take up babysitting duties again tomorrow you'll need to get a meal and a good night's sleep." Beckett said as he herded them to the door. "You can come back in the morning, but not too early. I'm going to let him sleep as late as possible."

Teyla stopped and turned on him, suspicion in her eyes. She kept her voice low. "Is there a problem?"

Beckett just shook his head. "We've barely begun to get the test results back. For heaven's sake, the man's just spent ten thousand years in a crystal array. I just want him to get rest, real time sleep and rest. Now go, the both of you."

Ronon glanced back as they walked down the corridor. "There's something wrong, isn't there? I mean, more wrong than that being the wrong Sheppard."

"I believe so. Maj. Sheppard did not seem well."

They walked in silence for a few minutes before he asked, "Do you think John's still there?"

She looked up at him, her face unreadable. "Yes, and I believe that Rodney and Radek will find a way to bring him back safely."

He studied her, eyes narrowed in thought. After several seconds, he seemed to come to a decision and nodded. "Okay."


	5. Chapter 5

Elizabeth was alarmed when she saw the CMO as she walked into the infirmary the next morning. He looked like he'd gotten little sleep. She glanced around to make sure there was no sign of Sheppard before speaking.

"Carson? What is it?"

"Elizabeth. Come with me." He blinked wearily at her then turned to the duty nurse. "I'll be in my office for a few minutes."

"Where is he?" She looked around again.

Beckett tilted his head towards a door on the other side of the room. "He's in a private room through there."

"Did he get any sleep?"

"Aye, he was all in and was asleep before his head hit the pillow. He's barely moved since."

"And, what about you?"

"Oh, I'm fine."

They walked into his office and sat down. She waited for only a moment when he seemed to be having difficulty knowing what to say. The news couldn't be good.

"What's wrong?"

"I have only some of the results so far, but there is a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

Beckett leaned forward and lowered his voice. "There are definite abnormalities."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, liver and kidney functions are not what they should be, and there're a couple of other things. I need to see more of the results, including the DNA, and to run the tests again to be certain."

She hesitated. "Certain of what?"

"Maj. Sheppard didn't escape ten millennia the Gate's buffer unscathed."

----------

Elizabeth walked into McKay's lab to find him and Zelenka huddled over laptops. McKay pounded on the tabletop with the side of his fist in frustration, startling the Czech. He grimaced and shook the hand, trying to ease the pain.

"Rodney?"

He jumped and turned to look at her. His appearance was no better than Beckett's. There were dark smudges under bloodshot eyes and stress was evident in his face and his whole body. Zelenka was about the same. She figured both scientists worked through the night.

"Elizabeth." McKay said flatly.

She was hesitant to ask. "Anything?"

He pressed his forehead with unsteady fingers then waved at the computer, exhaling heavily. "No. Until I can get to 749, I can't tell you if there is anything I can do or even if Sheppard's still there."

"We can only prepare for the possible problems with the Gate." Zelenka added quietly.

She glanced at her watch, trying to calculate the number of hours until the Daedalus was due to return.

"The Daedalus won't be here for another 32 hours." He looked sick at the thought of waiting so long. He didn't like it, and especially didn't like not being able to do something. He looked away for a moment, trying to regain some semblance of being okay. "How is he?"

Elizabeth checked to make sure they were quite alone. "Carson's doing more tests. He's concerned there might be a problem."

McKay closed his eyes and shook his head. "Oh, God. What else? What kind of problem?"

"He's not sure, but said he'll know more later on." She folded her arms and hunched her shoulders a little. "Okay, well, if you find anything…"

He nodded, "I'll let you know."

----------

Beckett stopped in the doorway of the room where Sheppard slept. There was just enough light to distinguish the sleeping man's features. He was on his back, his head turned slightly to the right, towards Beckett and the door. The fingers of his right hand curled over the edge of the mattress. His left hand rested on his stomach, an IV line snaking away to the bag of fluids hanging at the head of the bed. The doctor watched for a long time, pondering what he knew now and what he feared would be confirmed.

Beckett insisted on the IV before Sheppard went to bed. He hadn't told Elizabeth everything. The test results so far were very worrying. There were indications of serious liver and kidney dysfunction and other anomalies in the blood work. While there was a very remote possibility that these were transitory or treatable, Beckett knew the chances were one in a million. He knew with almost absolute certainty that the time spent in the Gate caused damage that could not be undone.

"Doc?" Sheppard's voice startled him out of his reverie. It was rough with sleep.

Beckett put on his best smile and toggled the control to bring the lights up a fraction. "It's about time. I thought you were going to sleep the day away."

"What time is it?" He asked sleepily as he sat up. His watch was missing when he came through the Gate. It had been irreparably damaged in the crash.

"It's oh-eight-hundred." Beckett approached the bed, closely studying his face. He hid his disappointment when Sheppard had the look of a man that had been through the wringer.

Sheppard stared at him. "It feels like I just laid down. You'd think ten thousand years in limbo would have been enough rest for a while."

"I don't think it works like that." Beckett said with an unfelt chuckle. He was grateful that the Major turned away and couldn't see his face. He'd learned how to say the words long ago, but never quite mastered lying with his eyes. Sheppard, the other one, only needed to glance at him to know when he was lying. This one would probably know, too.

The pilot swung his legs off the bed and stood up, shaking his head sharply to clear out the cobwebs. He leaned heavily on the bed to steady himself against a brief wave of dizziness. After several seconds, he straightened and looked at Beckett. The doctor had the air of someone who had something to say but could not find the right words and didn't want to say it anyway.

"Should I ask?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"I'm sorry, Major. I need to run some more tests."

"Can I have a shower first?" Sheppard asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, yes, of course. Let me disconnect the IV for now." He walked towards the bed and held out a small plastic container. "I'll also need a sample."

Sheppard rolled his eyes as he took the container. "Of course you do."

----------

"Carson?" Elizabeth frowned at the doctor as he entered her office. "I thought you were running more tests."

Teyla and Ronon sat on the chairs in front of Elizabeth's desk.

"Aye, we are. Dr. Gould is running an EEG on Maj. Sheppard, so I have a few minutes." Beckett sat heavily on one of the free chairs. He was weary with more than just lack of sleep.

"What's wrong?" McKay rushed in. He'd seen Beckett heading for Elizabeth's office and followed.

"I'm still getting the results from yesterday. I won't have any results from today until this evening."

"Then what are you doing here?" McKay looked even more tired than the doctor, and his voice had an edge to it.

Beckett bit back a harsh reply. He understood McKay's anxiety all too well. He was also certain that McKay felt some sense of responsibility for not being able to retrieve Col. Sheppard from the Gate.

"Rodney, I do have a little more information." He turned to look at Elizabeth again. "It's not good, I'm afraid. I have confirmed that his liver and kidneys have lost function. I don't know the extent or the cause yet. Some of the tests we're running today may give us the answers."

"There's more, isn't there?" Elizabeth had been watching him closely, sensing there was more than weariness in Beckett's whole being.

"Aye. Almost all of the results so far are, well, off."

"What do you mean, off?" McKay looked from the doctor to Elizabeth and back.

"Beside liver and kidney function, his ATP and ADP levels are low, and…." Beckett shrugged.

"What are ATP and ADP?" Elizabeth asked.

"Our bodies get energy from a chemical compound called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. ADP, or adenosine diphosphate is another form of the compound. It provides almost all of the energy our cells need to function and survive. It's mostly made in the mitochondria in the cells. The levels of both in John's blood are lower than normal."

"What's causing it?" She asked, already knowing that it must be serious if have the doctor this worried.

"There seems to be so much going on that I can't even hazard a guess why until I get more of the results."

The heaviness settling in the room was almost palpable.

"Is there anything we can do, Carson?" Teyla asked gently.

He started to shake his head and decline then stopped for a moment. "I'll be finished with him in about thirty minutes, and he's anxious to talk to you all. Feel like keeping an eye on him for a while?"

"Of course." She inclined her head then stood up. She glanced at Ronon as he followed suit.

"Sure."

"I'll keep you posted." The doctor said as he, Teyla and Ronon turned to leave.

They followed Beckett as he headed for the infirmary. Once they stepped into the transporter he spoke to them.

"Okay, you need to know that his energy level is low and he's probably not feeling the best. It isn't surprising, all things considered." He lowered his voice as they stepped out of the transporter and walked to the infirmary. "I don't want him to over exert himself and I want him back here by 1800 hours. It's noon so I'd also be grateful if you can get him to eat. Something light, preferably."

"Should he not stay in the infirmary?"

The doctor compressed his lips, thinking. If what he suspected was true, staying in the infirmary was not going to help. "Probably, but he wants to see a little of the city and talk about what happened."

"Does he know?" Ronon asked very quietly.

Beckett looked hard at him. Ronon was perceptive, but no more so than Teyla or Elizabeth. The doctor had hoped not, but now knew it was highly probable they all suspected the Major's prognosis was uncertain. "I don't know anything yet. But, one thing John, either one of them, isn't is dumb."

----------

"So, the Sheppard here is a Lt. Colonel, right?" The Major looked out over the city below the balcony then turned back to them. The table they chose was next to the railing. Teyla and Ronon took him to the mess hall after Beckett finally said the tests were finished. They hoped he would be tempted to eat, but he'd picked up only juice and water. He drank the juice slowly, savoring the taste, but wrinkled his nose at the suggestion of solid food.

"Yeah." Ronon answered.

He shook his head in disbelieve. "How the hell did that happen? Someone at the SGC must have taken leave of their senses."

"John truly deserved the promotion. He has proven himself worthy many times over." Teyla answered him with a slightly admonishing tone. She studied him through narrowed eyes. "You should not say such things. You are John Sheppard, too."

He chuckled at the earnestness of her statement. "Oh, I'm sure he deserves it. I just didn't think I'd ever get past Major."

"I am certain that you would have if you had been given the chance."

"Maybe." He looked out at the city again and took a drink of water. When he turned back to them, he was thoughtful. "What do you guys do?"

"We're on Sheppard's team." Ronon replied this time.

"Team? Like an off-world team?" The Major's interest was piqued. He leaned forward, turning the water bottle slowly in his hands.

"Yeah. Rodney, too."

"McKay?" Sheppard gaped at her in surprise. "Rodney McKay goes on missions? You're kidding, right?"

"We have been on many missions over the last three years. He has become a valuable member of the team." Teyla only partly suppressed a smile at his incredulity. Beside her, Ronon gave a noncommittal shrug. "John and Rodney have also become close friends."

He opened his mouth to say something then closed it again. After a second, he shook his head once. "You know, after finding out about the Stargate, you'd think nothing would surprise me. And, you two?"

She bowed her head a fraction and smiled. "Yes, we are also good friends."

Sheppard considered her words for a moment then nodded silently as he looked over the railing at the city again. Teyla could see much of his face, and thought she saw a brief look of sadness and longing. It was gone by the time he turned back to them. "So, what's this galaxy like now? Are there any Ancients still around? Did they come back? Are there many inhabited planets out there?"

Teyla chuckled at the onslaught of questions. "There are many populated planets, possibly thousands. We do not know just how many there are, though. Very few people have any technology, and it is quite primitive compared to even the technology from Earth. My people visited planets mostly for trading purposes before the arrival of the expedition."

"The Wraith culling every few hundred years makes it hard to do much." Ronon added.

"They're not around all the time?"

"No, the Wraith feed exclusively on humans. If they continuously remained active, they would quickly deplete their food source. Their ships land and all but a handful of caretakers go into hibernation to allow human populations time to grow until they are active again." She paused. "The Wraith awakened too early this time."

"And, there aren't enough humans to go around." Sheppard finished the thought for her. She shook her head slowly. "Did any Ancients come back?"

"We have not been able to find any evidence that they returned from your galaxy." She leaned forward. "Did the Ancients say they would return?'

He shrugged. "There was some talk about it, but nothing concrete. I think a few of them wanted to come back, but they weren't willing to argue with the Council right then."

"Of course."

Sheppard looked at them thoughtfully. "I suppose there wasn't much left on Denasus after all these years."

"We do not know how big the city was when you were there, but a significant number of buildings are reasonably intact."

"Well, maybe not now the Wraith attacked again." Ronon reminded her.

"You were on the planet for how long?"

"We were there for about nine hours." Teyla responded as she watched him. Despite Sheppard's seemingly relaxed attitude, he was looking unwell. "Why?"

"I'm wondering if any of the labs are still intact enough to find anything about the research they were doing." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Did anyone take pictures?"

"I believe one of the Marines, Davison, had a camera, but I am not sure how much video he was able to take. Rodney probably has it."

"Okay, let's go see." Sheppard stood up and stopped, looking around. He raised an eyebrow at them. "Which way?"

They entered McKay's lab a few minutes later. He was alone and staring at a laptop, back to the door.

"Rodney?" Teyla said as they approached him.

"What? Don't sneak up on a person like that!" The astrophysicist jumped, nearly knocking his computer off the desk. He spun around, but stopped when he saw them. He looked like hell. "Oh. What is it?"

"Do you have the video taken on 749? John would like to see it."

McKay stared at him for a moment. "Why?"

"Well, I was just there yesterday and I know some of the buildings the Ancients were doing the research in. I might be able to tell you which ones they are." Sheppard replied as he leaned against a nearby bench. "They had some underground labs. Did you find any?"

"Underground? No, we didn't know there were underground labs." McKay immediately perked up. He got up and started searching the room, moving equipment. "Damn. Where is it? Ah!"

He picked up a small digital video camera, grabbed a cable and plugged into his computer. He typed a few commands and, within seconds, images of the planet appeared on a large nearby monitor. The video was surprisingly steady and Davison's commentary was sparse. He provided little more than direction and distance, but took detailed images of what had been seen on the mission.

After watching for a while, McKay glanced at Sheppard. "Well, do you recognize anything?"

"This is just too Twilight Zone." The Major muttered to himself. He slowly shook his head and sighed heavily then looked at the others. "There's a lot of damage and I saw most of it from the air. The buildings on Denasus were kept to no more than four stories and were very plain. It was a research station and they didn't take the effort to make it pretty. It also made them difficult to differentiate."

They continued to watch for a while in a vain hope he would see something. McKay glanced at him but he just shook his head again.

"I could find them if I was there." He suggested hopefully.

Teyla looked at him sharply. "I do not think Dr. Beckett would agree to let you to go."

Sheppard didn't take his eyes off the monitor. "We'll see."


	6. Chapter 6

Zelenka stared at Sheppard as he passed the trio coming out of McKay's lab. The scientist was still slightly unnerved at the appearance of the duplicate of his friend. The thought made him pause in the doorway. Friend. He'd never consciously thought of Col. Sheppard as a friend. Now, he decided, yes. John Sheppard was a friend, a very good one.

"Well?" McKay's voice jarred him out of his thoughts. He entered the lab.

"Everything you need is being assembled. Roberts is supervising the loading in the Jumper bay." He plugged the laptop he was carrying into a docking station as he spoke. "Fisher and Perkins are setting up in the Gate room. It will be ready for us to check in a couple of hours."

McKay frowned as if he was going to say something. Zelenka braced for a snide comment, but none came. Instead, the chief scientist nodded, glancing at his laptop monitor. It was obvious he was deeply distressed.

"I'm sure he is there, Rodney." The Czech stated, trying to keep his tone more positive than he actually felt. "We'll get him back."

"We'd better." McKay stared at the door for a moment before both men returned to their computers to work.

----------

Beckett pressed the power button on the data pad as soon as he heard the voices in the outer room. The screen dutifully went blank. He took a deep breath and hoped his face did not reflect what he was thinking as he walked out of his office.

"You're late." He said with mock seriousness when he saw his patient seemed to be enjoying himself.

Sheppard grinned at him. "My fault. I wanted to check out a lab Janis showed me."

Teyla stood next to him. She smiled when he glanced at her, but that smiled wavered when he turned to Beckett. Ronon was behind them, an even more serious than normal expression on his face.

"Was it still there?" The doctor asked with mild interest.

"Yeah, if you can call being flooded for God knows how long as there. His stuff was probably all cleared out before he left." He was mildly disappointed. "Has anything about the time machine been found in the database?"

"We've barely scratched the surface of the information in the Ancient database." Beckett told him. "Rodney and his team, and half the scientists at the SGC, will be digging through it for years."

"I believe Rodney has already searched the database, but it appears that the Ancients removed anything to do with Janis's research on time travel." Teyla added.

Sheppard nodded to one side. "Well, considering how pissed they were at him, I'm not surprised."

Beckett was watching Sheppard carefully. He could see the difference in the Major even though only a few hours had passed. To his trained eye, there was a visible deterioration in his condition.

"Okay, my lad. I think it's time you got some rest." Beckett pointed to the doorway leading to his room.

"I'm fine." Sheppard frowned at him, but the doctor's expression was stern. He turned to Teyla and Ronon. "See you later?"

She smiled and bowed her head a fraction. "Of course."

Beckett waited until they were gone then turned to his patient. "How are you really feeling?"

Sheppard shrugged. "Tired. Headache. A little nauseous. In other words, fine, all things considered."

"Well, let's get you into bed. It was probably too soon to let you go running about the place."

----------

"It's not good, Elizabeth." Carson spoke softly but his voice was heavy. He set the data pad containing Sheppard's chart on his desk as he spoke.

"What do you mean? Carson, what is it?"

"As we already discussed, Stargate technology is not designed to hold a pattern for anything, much less a human being, for more than a split second. Other than what happened to Teal'c a few years ago, nothing is known about what long term storage will do to a person. Teal'c was very lucky to have suffered no ill effects from the incident. Maj. Sheppard was in there for ten thousand years." He stopped, still trying to find the right words.

"It's serious?" Of course it was and she knew it. The doctor's distress was too obvious.

He nodded. "I have more tests results. Very serious."

"How serious is very serious?" The unexpected source of the question made them both turn in surprise. They looked up to see Sheppard standing in the doorway. Even though he'd just woken up, he looked tired and his skin had an unhealthy pallor.

"John." Beckett said as he stood up. "Please come in and sit down. You need to hear this."

Sheppard sat on the offered chair without a word. His voice and face gave nothing away, but they both saw something else in his eyes. They would have called it fatigue and illness. Elizabeth would have added loss.

She stood up. "I'll leave you…"

"No, please stay." The Major glanced up at her with a brief smile. She sat down.

"As you know, there were some anomalies in your blood work. Your liver and kidneys are not functioning properly. Also, as part of the tests, we ran your nuclear and mitochondrial DNA." Beckett hesitated. He could see they both already wanted him to get to the point. He addressed the next part to Sheppard. "To put it simply, the mitochondria are the power generators in our cells. They make the energy our cells need to function. John, the DNA in your mitochondria has been damaged or mutated."

"And?" He prompted when the doctor paused again.

"The changes have consequences, I'm afraid, very serious ones." Beckett swallowed hard. This was the polar opposite of easy. "There are many diseases resulting from mitochondrial DNA mutations. We are still learning…"

"Cut to the chase, will you?" Sheppard said impatiently. Why was it that someone with bad news always felt they needed to cushion it with a lot of words?

"I'm sorry. I think you need to understand what it all means. I don't know with any certainty what may happen. This is still a new area of medicine and we are only just beginning to understand the connections between DNA mutations and the resultant diseases." He looked at the data pad on his desk then back at Sheppard. "Okay, I know you don't want me to sugar-coat it for you. Many such mutations cause progressive neurodegenerative disorders. The symptoms can include worsening muscle weakness, migraine headaches, seizures and stroke-like episodes, among other things. We've found three so far. You're already experiencing some of the symptoms, aren't you?"

"Well, I do kinda feel like I've been put through a wringer."

The doctor pressed further. "What symptoms do you have?"

He exhaled heavily then frowned at the doctor. There was no dodging this one. "Muscle weakness, splitting headache and nausea. Pretty much what you said."

"Were you able to eat anything?"

"No." He waited as Beckett entered his answers into the chart. "You said you found three so far. Are you expecting more?"

Beckett nodded somberly. "I'm not sure. We've really only just started getting results, but it's probable."

"What's gonna happen?"

"The symptoms will worsen, and more may surface. Your immune system is already compromised. That will make you susceptible to opportunistic infections."

"How long? How much time do I have?" His steady gaze made the doctor uncomfortable.

Beckett shook his head slowly. "Honestly, I don't know. This is unprecedented."

"Ballpark. Educated guess." Sheppard raised an eyebrow at him. "Weeks? Days?"

Beckett glanced at Elizabeth. She was trying to remain expressionless and was no help. He understood her pain. His respect for Sheppard was too deep to be anything but completely honest now.

"The difference in some of the test results between yesterday and today indicate that this will be fast. Maybe a week, ten days at the outside. You'll be incapacitated within a couple of days then go into a coma, and then…"

"Dead."

Sheppard's face was so carefully composed, it was impossible to guess what he was thinking. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was now clearly affected. Her friend and colleague was trapped in a Stargate somewhere across the galaxy, his being reduced to a pattern and scattered in a crystal array, and might not be recoverable. Now, this John Sheppard was just handed a death sentence.

"Aye." Beckett nodded once and swallowed hard.

"Surely there is some kind of treatment, Carson?" Elizabeth asked without hope. She could see Beckett had nothing that would help. She knew too well that he would have mentioned the positive first.

"There are some treatments that help alleviate the effects of a few of these mutations, but they are not very effective long term and would not help multiple mutations. With the other problems…I'm sorry, son." Beckett searched Sheppard's face for some indication of what he was thinking or feeling. He could see only the rapidly appearing signs of illness. Even if there were treatments for the individual ailments, the damage was progressing too fast.

"It's not your fault, Doc." Sheppard waved off the apology. "Hell, I'm ahead of the game. I shouldn't've survived at all."

Not knowing what to say next, the doctor stood up. "Well, if you don't mind, I want you in bed. Come on."

Sheppard thought for several seconds, looking down at hands that already had a noticeable tremor. He finally looked up at Elizabeth and Beckett. "I'm going to 749 with McKay."

Elizabeth and Beckett stared at him in disbelief. She recovered first.

"John, I don't think…"

"No, I don't either." Beckett interjected. "I can't let you go. Definitely not."

He exhaled heavily. "You have to let me go."

"Why?" Elizabeth asked.

"Look, the two times your people have gone to the planet, the Wraith have shown up. If they haven't already, they may just try to find out what you were up to there, or completely destroy the city. The Ancients were developing weapons that could attack the organics of the Wraith ships. I can show McKay where the labs were."

She frowned. "I saw the video from the MALP. It's been ten thousand years since you were there. The city is in ruins."

"I was there just yesterday. The labs were in shielded underground bunkers. I can find them again." He leaned forward a little, a hint of desperation in his eyes. "Look, if anything is still there, you need to find it fast and get it out of there."

"John…" Beckett started.

"I need to do this. The Ancients left this galaxy to the Wraith. This is my only chance to find something that can help you stop them."

He looked at both of them, the determination now in his eyes told them they wouldn't be able to change his mind. They knew their Sheppard wouldn't want to just sit and wait for death. He'd want to be doing something as long as he possibly could.

----------

McKay's head jerked up from staring at a computer monitor. "What? Is he crazy? Are you crazy for even considering it?"

"Probably." Elizabeth conceded.

He shook his head in disbelief. "What does Beckett say?"

"Carson's not too happy about the idea, either." She said without humor then glanced around to see if they were alone. "Rodney, Maj. Sheppard is dying."

He gave her his undivided attention, swallowing hard. "Are you sure? Can't Beckett do anything?"

"No. Genetic mutations caused by the time he spent in the Gate buffer are too extensive. Almost every system in his body is failing." She paused. Even though this was not their Sheppard she was discussing, it was still Sheppard. Just thinking about losing him like they lost the other Elizabeth was gut wrenching. Her heart felt heavier than she thought possible. "He doesn't have long, Rodney. Carson thinks John will be bedridden within a few days and comatose in a few more. He will die within days after that."

McKay was trying desperately to think objectively about the situation. He didn't know this man. This was not his friend. He quickly figured this tactic wouldn't work. "Shouldn't he stay here in the infirmary?"

"You know what John's like. He couldn't stand the idea of just sitting in the infirmary, waiting to die when he might be able to give us something that will help us fight the Wraith." She looked the astrophysicist in the eye. "He wants to do this, Rodney. I don't think I can say no, and neither does Carson."

He exhaled heavily. "Carson's certain about…about…the dying thing?"

"Yes. Nothing short of a true miracle can stop it." Elizabeth replied, her voice filled with sadness. She suddenly wanted to change the subject, but knew she had to continue. "Have you figured out how you're going to try to get John out?"

McKay blinked at her. "Uh, yes, I think so. I'm hoping that it just transmits his pattern once I dial the Gate, but if it doesn't, I need to make it think he's just entered the wormhole. When we enter the event horizon, our bodies emit a small energy pulse as it is broken down into its pattern to be transmitted. If need be, I'll send an energy pulse into the wormhole that is approximately the same size and frequency. If we're very lucky, it'll complete the transmission and Sheppard will appear. I need to check a few things on 749 to finish the calculations."

She knew better than to ask what the chances of this plan working. It was impossible to know. "Okay, I'll let you get back to it."

----------

Elizabeth's encouraging smile disappeared as she watched the sparkling beam quickly fade. The strain of the last fifty plus hours began to show on her face and in her whole body. She turned to the man standing beside her, and saw that he felt the same. "Are you sure you don't want to go?"

Beckett continued to stare at the spot in the main room of the infirmary where Sheppard, along with Teyla, Ronon and Dr. Benson, and three medical technicians, stood just seconds before the Daedalus beamed them aboard. McKay and his team of scientists and technicians had been beamed up along with their equipment from the Gate room. A dozen Marines were flown up in Jumper Three, docking with the Daedalus soon after she went into orbit.

"I want to go, but I'm working on some way to reverse the effects. I can be of more use to him here." He glanced at her and saw her uncertainty. "While the Major is still breathing, there's a chance we might find something. I trust Mark Benson and Dr. Hamilton on board will take good care of him."

"Yes, I'm sure they will."

Beckett added, "I also want to be here when John gets back."

He didn't need to elaborate. She understood there was all too good a chance John Sheppard might be injured. Elizabeth thought for a moment, wondering why they called it "a good chance" when the situation might be bad, even deadly.

Their comm units activated. "Dr. Weir, this is Caldwell."

She tapped her ear transceiver. "This is Weir."

"We have everyone one board and the Jumper has landed in the 302 bay. Daedalus is ready to leave orbit."

"Very well, Colonel." She glanced at Beckett. "Good luck."

"We'll let you know when we reach 749. Caldwell out."

Her smile was grim and very brief. "I'll be in my office."

----------

Sheppard blinked and swayed slightly once he materialized in the ship's sick bay. He grinned as he regained his balance. "That is cool! Weird, but cool."

"You have never before experienced the beam?" Teyla asked him.

"No, this is the first time I've been on one of these ships." He swayed again. Ronon was close enough to reach out and steady him. He glanced up at the Satedan, only part of his enjoyment of the moment dampened. "Thanks."

Benson was watching him closely. "Okay, Major, I think you need to get to bed. It'll be several hours before we reach the planet."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm fine. Let me take a look around. McKay said they were landing the Jumper in the 302 bay. I'd love to see them."

"Maybe later." He was firm. "Major, if you're going to go down to the planet, you need to conserve your strength."

"You will see the fighters later." Teyla added. "We will be flying down to the planet on the Jumper so that you can see the whole city from the air."

"Dr. Benson?" A middle-aged man approached them. He had a kindly face that revealed none of the concern he felt for the Major. He'd met the other Sheppard, and felt sympathy for this one because of his regard for the one her knew.

Benson turned and smiled. "Dr Hamilton. It's good to see you again. This is Maj. John Sheppard."

Hamilton smiled at the new arrivals. "Welcome aboard, Major, Teyla, Ronon. We have a bed all ready for you over here, Major."

At that moment, Caldwell entered and walked over. He didn't immediately see Sheppard. "Teyla, Ronon, Dr. Benson. Welcome aboard."

The little group parted as Sheppard turned to see the Colonel. To his credit, Caldwell hid his reaction to the Major's appearance, both the duplication of the Major he met nearly two years before and the obvious illness.

"Col. Caldwell, it is good to see you." Teyla bowed her head slightly as an acknowledgement. "This is Maj. Sheppard. John, this is Col. Caldwell, the commander of the Daedalus."

"Major." Caldwell nodded. "Welcome aboard."

"Thank you, Colonel. I appreciate your doing all of this for…the…uh…other me." Sheppard winced.

Caldwell stared at him for a moment, but quickly recovered. "You're welcome. We should be in orbit around 749 in six hours and fifteen minutes."

"Great. Would you mind me taking a look around later? I didn't get to see one of these ships before I came to Atlantis." Sheppard asked. When Caldwell hesitated, he offered, "Teyla and Ronon will be with me, and any security you want."

"I don't think it's a problem, Major. I'll assign someone to show you around and answer any questions you have."

"Uh, excuse me, Colonel." Benson looked at them. "Right now, I want Maj. Sheppard to get some rest."

Caldwell frowned at the doctor for a moment then realized what he meant. "Yes, of course, Doctor." He looked at Sheppard again. "Dr. Hamilton can let me know when your ready."

Sheppard nodded. "Thanks, Colonel."

----------

"Look, Doc, the Colonel can beam me up in a split second. You don't need to come." Maj. Sheppard did not feel like having this discussion. He didn't need anyone else hovering over him just now. It would also be a pain in the butt to have to explain what he might have to do down on the planet. "I'm just going to show them where the labs are and how to get in, that's all. We're taking the Jumper so I'll be chauffeured around. Minimal walking. We'll be back before you know it."

Dr. Benson stepped back and folded his arms. "I don't know about this, Major."

He was too tired and too sick for an argument. "Teyla and Ronon will be with me every minute. Dr. Beckett let me come this far, just a little further won't hurt. Like I said, Caldwell can…"

"Beam you up in a split second." He finished for him, coming to a decision. "Okay. Okay. But, one of the Marines accompanying you will be a medic. First sign of any trouble and he'll have you beamed up. No arguments."

He thought for a moment then nodded. He could get around that if necessary. "Deal."


	7. Chapter 7

Sheppard walked into the 302 bay and stopped dead. He let out a low whistle as he looked around at the fighters.

McKay looked up at the sound. He had been sorting through the equipment in the back of the jumper, having two assistants move some of it into two piles well away from the Jumper. He looked around as if he wanted a way to escape then seemed to come to a decision and headed for the Major. The ever-present datapad was cradled in one arm.

"Everything ready, McKay?" Ronon asked.

"As ready as I came make it." He hesitantly looked from Ronon to Sheppard. The thought of talking to the Major had been unbearable, so McKay just avoided it. The need to prepare for the trip to 749 was a perfect excuse. He couldn't stop the pain reflecting in his face at the appearance of the man in front of him. "Uh. Hi."

Sheppard gave Teyla a meaningful glance. She understood immediately, knowing that, after all of the talking they had done over the last two days, he was aware of the difficulty MacKay was having with the situation. She turned to Ronon, but didn't need to say anything. He was already drifting towards the Jumper.

"Rodney, we need to check the weapons we are taking to the planet. Can you…?" She didn't finish as she followed Ronon.

"Uh. Hi." McKay repeated. He was uncomfortable and couldn't hide it. The tightness in his stomach was turning into a stone. Sheppard's skin was now tinged with yellow and waxy, and the dark circles under his eyes were more pronounced. "Sorry, I haven't had much time to talk. Been getting ready for…uh…How are you?"

"Not bad." Sheppard chuckled. "Hey, how many people can honestly say they can back to the future? And, I didn't even have a DeLorean."

McKay's jaw dropped. "That…that's was Sheppard said when we found your Elizabeth."

"Really? Well, great minds think alike." He smiled as carefully sat on a large equipment case and looked around at the 302s. The walk from the sick bay tired him out, making him wonder if Beckett's timetable wasn't a little optimistic. "Look, I know this is awkward, even weird. Believe me, I understand."

"Yeah. Something like this happened to me a while back. Well, not quite like this. Another McKay from an alternate universe appeared in the containment chamber of a generator we were working on…" his voice trailed off.

Sheppard frowned then his eyebrows went up. "Really? Where is he?"

"Oh, I was able to send him back." The astrophysicist grimaced at the memory. "It was weird, though."

"You and Sheppard are friends?"

McKay was taken aback by the question. "Sure, we're comrades on the field of battle, equals…" He stopped and sighed. "Yes, we are friends. We've been through a lot since we got here."

Sheppard's gaze wandered over to Teyla and Ronon working in the Jumper. They were assessing the small, and not so small, arms stored in the little craft. A wistful expression appeared in his eyes. "Them, too?"

The astrophysicist followed his gaze. He was slowly beginning to understand a tiny bit of what the Major was thinking, feeling. He sat down on another case. "Yes. We are, thanks to Sheppard. He brought this team together. I take it they told you how they got to Atlantis?"

"Yeah." The answer was simple but said a lot.

The hazel eyes turned to him, and revealed more in an instant than Sheppard might want. If asked, McKay would later swear it must have been the lighting in the 302 bay or this Sheppard's illness or even his own exhaustion. At that moment, though, McKay saw satisfaction then longing and sadness quickly pass through those eyes before they turned away again.

"You'll get him out, McKay. I didn't know you very long, but it was long enough. If anyone can get Sheppard out, it's you." He frowned at the bandage on his left hand, wishing the IV setup had been removed. The doctor refused, though, saying it would only need to be replaced as soon as he was on board again. He gave strict orders that Sheppard return within ninety minutes.

The astrophysicist was speechless. He didn't expect this and fumbled for words. "I…uh…"

"If this doesn't work..." Sheppard held up his hand to forestall an interruption. "Wait. You need to listen. If this doesn't work, don't beat your self up over it. And, don't let them."

McKay followed his eyes to Teyla and Ronon. Sheppard turned and looked at him again.

"The whole away team got back okay, didn't they?"

"Yes. There were a couple of minor injuries, but everyone except Sheppard got back in one piece." He frowned in confusion. "What has that got to do with anything?"

"Look, if he's there and it's at all possible, I know you'll get him back. It's just…the last thing he saw was his team getting home safely. That's more than I got." Sheppard swallowed and cast his eyes down for a moment. When he looked back, there was an earnestness in his eyes that was hard to take, but McKay held the gaze. "He wouldn't blame you, Rodney. Believe me, he wouldn't."

"Dr. McKay, this is Caldwell." The Colonel's voice boomed over the PA system in the bay, causing McKay to jump.

He tapped his earpiece. "McKay here."

"We'll be dropping out of hyperspace in three minutes and will be in orbit in five. Sensors confirm there is no sign of the Wraith in the vicinity. Are you ready?"

"Yes, we're ready." McKay stood up and began to walk to the Jumper. He waved at his assistants, who had been quietly hunched over a couple of laptops. Suddenly, McKay stopped and turned back. "I would."

"I know." Sheppard exhaled heavily and gave him a slight nod. "Good luck."

The hanger was suddenly full of movement. Pilots and their support crew poured into the bay along with the rest of McKay's team and a couple dozen Marines. The 302s were to be on ready status in case the Wraith arrived unexpectedly.

McKay, his team and the equipment piled outside of the Jumper were to beam down to save time. A substantial contingent of Marines would arrive before them to secure the area. Half a dozen more would be in the Jumper with Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon.

"Major?" A young woman smiled hesitantly at him. Niki Bryce was the Jumper pilot assigned by Lorne for this mission. He said she was one of the best on Atlantis. She'd been an F-16 instructor with an impeccable record. She jumped at the chance to pilot the awkward looking Jumpers without a second thought.

"Lt. Bryce." Sheppard acknowledged as he stood up. He rolled his eyes as Ronon hurried over. "I'm okay. Did you bring that bag?"

"Yeah, it's in the Jumper. Why? What is it?"

"The clothes I had on when I came through the Gate."

----------

Sheppard blew out a soft whistle as they descended through a thick cloud layer and surveyed the ruins below them. The lieutenant flew the little craft low and slow to let him get a good view. The diffuse light gave the city a black and white and grey appearance. Even the profuse wildflowers seemed to have been drained of their color.

Teyla leaned forward to look over his shoulder, concerned that the degradation of the city would confuse him. "It has been many centuries."

"Actually, there's a lot more left than I thought. This should be fairly easy." He smiled at her then spoke to the pilot. "There's a large oval park in the northeast corner of the city. Once we're there, fly due south two kilometers."

It didn't take long.

"Sir?" Niki said to get his attention and pointed to an open space in the distance. "Is that the park?"

He peered at the space and its surroundings. "Yep, that's it."

"Yes, Sir." She flew the craft to the spot then steered it south. A few minutes later, they were hovering above the area he indicated.

"There! That one." He pointed at a squat, square building in a side street. One corner had collapsed and there were other signs of the wear of the millennia. He blew out a breath. "Damn, it's a mess, but the important stuff was underground. Can you get close?"

"Sure can, Sir. Will the front door do?" The young woman replied confidently as the Jumper began to settle it in front of the building. As a precaution, she activated the HUD to check for life signs.

The Jumper landed with a gentle bump and the hatch lowered. The half dozen Marines piled out first, moving out in a well-drilled pattern to secure the area. Maj. Lorne had given strict, albeit unnecessary, orders to keep Sheppard safe.

He carefully stood up and walked to the back of the Jumper, Ronon next to him. Teyla hung back for a moment. When they were outside, she leaned close to Lt. Bryce.

"Will you please stay and monitor the HUD, Lieutenant?"

She understood immediately. "Yes, Ma'am. We're all alone except for Dr. McKay's group, but I'll let you know if anything comes up."

"Thank you. We will return as soon as we confirm this is the correct location."

"Yes, Ma'am." She smiled. "Let me know if you need anything."

Once the Marines gave the all clear, Sheppard entered the building watching both his step and the hand-sized sensor he picked up in the Jumper. Teyla and Ronon followed closely along with one of the Marines bringing up the rear. His comrades set up a perimeter outside. The interior was featureless and dusty. Watery light filtered in through cracks in outer wall and the doorway, but as they moved to an inner room, darkness began to close around them.

Flashlights clicked on to reveal another bare room. Except for the single door through which they entered, it was devoid of any feature. There was nothing.

Ronon looked at Sheppard. "What now?"

The Major pointed at the opposite wall and walked over to it. He passed his hand across the wall, just an inch or so from its surface. A moment later a portion of the wall moved straight back a fraction and slid open. The sensor in his hand beeped excitedly. As soon as he crossed the threshold, lights came on to reveal a transporter much like those on Atlantis.

"The shielding is still working, and that means there may still be something useful here." Sheppard flashed a tired grin as they stepped in. Ronon pulled his weapon from its holster.

Teyla turned to the Marine. "Wait here. We will not be long."

Sheppard added, "Your radios should work here. The Ancients set up the shields only to avoid scrutiny from outside the building."

The door closed, and a moment later it opened again to reveal a laboratory larger than the footprint of the building they entered. Four thick columns supported the ceiling. Workbenches and consoles lined the walls and bridged the columns. The room was fully lit and pristine. The surfaces were devoid of artifacts. One could easily think the scientists had been working here just yesterday, and put everything away before leaving for the night.

They slowly walked around the room. Ronon suddenly stopped and stared at Sheppard.

"Nothing's coming on. Usually, you…Sheppard walks in and everything turns on."

"Huh?" The Major raised an eyebrow at him then the consoles began to come to life around the room. "Sorry."

He continued to weave a path through the room, using the various surfaces to steady himself. Ronon followed closely as Teyla slowed to check the equipment. She looked up to watch his movements, though, just as Ronon did. It was painful to see someone they knew was fit and agile just a few days ago rapidly deteriorating before their eyes.

"I don't know if they had time to clear this out." Sheppard stopped at one of the few blank sections of wall and passed his hand over it. The section slid open just like the transporter door. It revealed a much smaller room lined with shelving packed with sealed containers. There were at least fifty, each about two gallons in size, and each bore a label.

Teyla entered and studied the labels on several containers. She frowned as she moved from one to the next. "I do not understand any of these. Do you know what they are?"

"Codes. They're full of seeds. Most of them are just regular crop seed, something like wheat." The Major leaned tiredly against the door jam and rubbed his right temple. "Other grain, too. I know a couple of them have samples of the stuff they were working on as a weapon against the Wraith ships. The computers should have the information."

"Why did the Ancients not take it with them?" Teyla turned from the containers.

"They took a ton of the stuff out of here a few weeks before the attack. This was just a small supply for the lab to continue its work up to the end. The crop seed didn't matter so they left it." He turned to leave. "I need to show you the other lab."

"What's there?" Ronon asked as he stepped back to let Teyla through the door.

"More about the project. This is where they created the different strains. The other lab is where they tested them on salvaged pieces of Wraith ships." Sheppard responded. The equipment around the room powered down as they walked to the transporter.

They were soon in the Jumper. Sheppard sank into the chair and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Are you alright, John?" Teyla asked with concern.

"Just tired. The jet lag's a killer." He gave her a weak smile then turned to the Lieutenant. "West, about kilometer."

"Yes, Sir." She nodded as the Jumper rose from the ground.

----------

The Daedalus' beam disappeared, leaving McKay and his team of scientists and technicians just feet from the DHD along with a substantial pile of equipment cases. They were surrounded by the two dozen Marines that beamed down first to secure the area. The sensors on the Daedalus had detected no life signs on the planet, but Caldwell insisted on the support.

McKay looked at the city and could see the destruction wreaked by the Wraith just days ago. He then turned to survey the damage to the area in front of the Gate. Several sizable holes and scorched vegetation were evidence of their flight. The Gate itself appeared to be no worse for wear. They would need to run diagnostics to be sure.

The team scrambled to unpack and set up the contents of the cases. A fair sized hole the shape of a nearly full circle just in front of where the base of the event horizon would have been suggested what happened. The blast hit the wormhole while it was active. They were relieved, though, when a close inspection gave no indication of any physical damage to the Gate or DHD.

They worked quickly and efficiently. Each of them understood the stakes of failure, and each knew the chances of success were very slim. It was more than likely that they would not find the Colonel in the buffer at all, that the pattern of his molecules was scattered throughout the galaxy.

McKay himself worked quietly, much more so than anyone could remember. They knew the brief conversation with Maj. Sheppard in the 302 bay rattled him. Instead of getting the expected, and customary, verbal lashings, the astrophysicist barely spoke. He checked over their work and made the odd adjustment, but nothing more. Less than an hour later, he was hunched over a laptop, squinting at the screen between short periods of frantic typing.

The scientists and technicians nervously busied themselves watching over the equipment, but frequently looked over at their boss. Even the Marines stole glances in his direction as they passed on their patrols. Each felt the strain more than they thought possible, and it wasn't only because of the chief science officer.

No one dared interrupt McKay. After what seemed to be an eternity, but was just a very long thirty minutes, McKay rubbed tired eyes and activated his radio with a shaky hand.

"Daedalus, this is McKay."

"This is Daedalus. Any news, Doctor?" Caldwell immediately responded.

"He's here. Col. Sheppard is in the Gate's buffer." He didn't take his eyes from the laptop screen. It was as if he felt that if he did look away, the reading would disappear.

"Can you tell if his pattern is…"

"Intact? No, I can't, not with any certainty." He swallowed hard. "But there is a pattern there."

"Can you get him out?" The Colonel asked. His voice was beginning to grate on McKay.

"I don't know!" He snapped then closed his eyes for a second and swallowed hard. "It's going to take some time to prepare. I'll let you know when I'm ready."

"Good luck. Daedalus out."

"Power up the naquadah generator." He snapped his fingers several times at his team. "Come on."

They were all grateful for the two days spent waiting for the Daedalus. The time was used for preparation and rehearsal, so they knew precisely what to do.

----------

Sheppard pointed to another squat, unremarkable building. This one appeared to have no damage except natural weathering. The thick walls of dense stone and metal had minimal signs of the passing centuries. He leaned towards Lt. Bryce.

"Don't land. It's the same set up as the first one." He then turned to Teyla and Ronon raising an eyebrow. "Want to go see how McKay's doing?"

Their anxiety was impossible to completely hide. Sheppard knew they wanted to be at the Gate, waiting for their friend's rescue. He wanted to be there, too. One of them needed to survive.


	8. Chapter 8

The Jumper settled on the grasses outside of the city, about fifty meters from the Gate. McKay was disturbed by its appearance, but did not argue about them being there. He barely threw them a glance as the hatch lowered and the Marines piled out to take up position outside the craft.

Sheppard stood at the top of the ramp, oblivious to Teyla's worried gaze. He was pale and every movement seemed to sap more energy from already drained reserves. She could see the jaundice yellow coloring his eyes and skin more deeply. Beckett warned them about it, but it was still distressing to see.

She touched his arm. "We should take you back to the Daedalus."

He shook his head. "No. I'm fine. I need to see this."

"Then you should watch from here." She pointed to one of the padded benches in the rear of the Jumper. "I will keep you company."

"I'll stay." Ronon offered. "You go see how McKay's doing."

Teyla looked at Ronon for a long moment. She was very aware that he wanted to be closer, too. They shared a vague hope that just their presence might somehow help, but also knew that one of them needed to stay with this man. She was grateful for the gesture.

"Thank you. I will return shortly with any news on their progress." She nodded and walked towards McKay.

"Better her than you, right?" Sheppard observed dryly as he eased himself down onto the bench, using the wall as support. He gave Ronon a lopsided grin. "McKay looks like he isn't in the mood for questions."

"He won't yell at her." Ronon stated honestly.

Even from that distance, they could see the Atlantis' chief scientist was near the breaking point. The last two and a half days had been as stressful as any McKay ever experienced. The fate of the city and all its occupants often rested on his shoulders. In those situations, though, other people were there to support him. Over the three years since they arrived in the Pegasus Galaxy, much of that support had come from Sheppard. He'd come to rely on it. The calm, unshakable strength always grounded him and kept him focused. This time it was more personal than he ever thought possible. He felt everything rode on what he was about to do, that Sheppard lived or died at his hands alone.

McKay straightened up from the DHD. The control panel at its base was open, cables running from it to various pieces of equipment placed on the ground nearby. He glanced up at Teyla as she neared then over at the Jumper and its dying occupant. He said nothing, but turned to a laptop resting on the crate in front of him.

"Rodney?"

"I'm working as fast as I can." He was barely able to contain his anxiety. "Look, we may have only one shot at this. I don't know if we'll be able to dial the Gate a second time, so I need to get this right. Please just…be…quiet!"

"Dr. McKay, this is the Daedalus." Caldwell's voice in their transceivers startled them.

"Yes, what is it?" He looked at Teyla, a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Long range sensors have picked up three Wraith cruisers on course for us. They'll be here in one hour."

Teyla frowned. The Wraith were far too close. "Col. Caldwell, this is Teyla. How did they get so close undetected?"

"We've been monitoring them since we arrived. They were on a completely different heading, but suddenly changed course a minute ago. You have forty minutes until we need to leave."

"How the hell did they know we're here again?" McKay demanded of no one in particular.

"We've checked the sensors and it seems there was a very low level energy burst a few minutes ago. We assumed it was one of your instruments because it came from the area immediately around the Gate." Caldwell responded with more patience than expected.

McKay stared at the massive ring. "We didn't find any Wraith beacons here."

"It wasn't the same kind of signal. Remember, forty minutes."

"I won't be ready to dial the Gate for twenty." McKay protested.

The Colonel's voice was neutral, but the people on the ground could detect sympathy. Over time, Caldwell had come to accept and respect Sheppard more than anyone, even himself, thought possible. "I'm sorry, Doctor, but we can't tangle with three cruisers over this planet. If the Ancient technology down there is intact, we need it to stay that way. We can come back after they leave."

"But, if they know we are here, they may just blow the place to bits."

"We'll have to take that chance. If we're here when they arrive, it's almost certain they will. Forty minutes. Caldwell out."

"Dammit!" McKay held his hands up in frustration for a moment then looked around at his team, the equipment and the Gate. He was surrounded on three sides by various instruments, two data pads and a laptop. He set to work again. Everyone waited as he worked, first on one datapad, then the laptop then back to the pad. Finally, he snapped his fingers at a youngish, mousy looking technician. "Uh, you. Yes, you. Is the generator ready?"

The young man nodded vigorously. He looked at the innocuous power source sitting on its carrying case near the Gate. Cables snaked from it to the base of the Gate, the DHD and one of McKay's instruments, as well as a unit in front of the technician. "Yes, Dr. McKay. It's ready. Power levels are within required parameters."

"We're ready, Doctor." One of the other men said quickly as McKay looked at each one in turn.

The astrophysicist typed furiously on the computer for a minute or two then rubbed one hand through his hair. He stepped to the DHD and looked around again, his eyes falling on Teyla last. "Will you send your IDC as soon as I activate it? Just so they know it's us."

"Yes, of course." She said as she pulled the generator from a pocket.

He tapped his transceiver. "Daedalus, I'm going to dial in. Can you alert them, please?"

Four seconds later, Caldwell responded. "The shield is down. They're ready and waiting."

"Okay, here goes." He began pressing the symbols for Atlantis. Everyone held their breath as he pressed the center dome and the wormhole formed. He quickly turned back to his equipment.

"I have sent the code, Rodney." Teyla said almost immediately.

He nodded and touched his radio. "Atlantis, this is McKay. Do you copy?"

"This is Weir, we copy." Her voice came over their radios. "We're ready."

"Sheppard didn't come through?" McKay asked even though he could still see the pattern register in the Gate's memory buffer.

"No, he hasn't. Is there a problem?"

"This was not unexpected. Stand by." McKay replied as he turned looked at his computer again. He hit a few keys then turned to a small control panel that was attached to the naquadah generator and the DHD. "He's still in the buffer. I'm going to send the energy pulse."

He took a deep breath and pressed a key on the laptop. Everyone tried to watch him and the Gate at the same time. There was no noise, no flash of light, nothing. He waited several seconds.

"Atlantis, anything?"

"No, nothing."

McKay quickly checked the monitor then typed something on the computer. "Okay, I've increased the output. I'm going to try it again. Now."

He hit the control key, and again, nothing happened. "Atlantis?"

Elizabeth's voice was strained. "Nothing, Rodney."

He tried again and again, making minor adjustments to the settings each time Elizabeth confirmed Sheppard had not emerged from the event horizon. Each failure increased the tension on both planets. McKay stared at the Gate. "Damn!"

"Rodney?" Elizabeth tried to prompt him.

"Just a minute." He replied sharply as he checked the readings on every monitor and instrument. His team closely watched their own as he worked, glancing at him nervously. After several agonizingly long minutes, he stopped and looked at the Gate again.

"Dr. McKay, this is Caldwell." The Colonel's voice made everyone jump.

McKay ground his teeth. "This is McKay. What is it?"

"Fifteen minutes, Doctor. Are you making any progress?"

The astrophysicist was dumbstruck for all of half a second. He sputtered, "What? What do you mean fifteen minutes?"

"Just what I said, Doctor. We need to be out of here in fifteen minutes. That includes getting your gear together if you don't want the Wraith to know we were here."

McKay looked at his watch and realized that he had taken too long. He felt sick. "Understood."

Teyla bit back her own question about progress. Time was too short.

"McKay."

The voice was gentle but made the astrophysicist jump. He whipped around to see Sheppard, the other Sheppard. He was dressed in the Ancient garb and the IV needle was gone. He was a little unsteady and put a hand on one of the larger containers for support. Ronon stood close by, keeping an eye on him.

"What are you doing here?" McKay asked even though the cold growing in the pit of his stomach told him he was beginning to understand. He turned back to his equipment. "I don't have time to talk."

Sheppard moved closer. His voice was not much above a whisper. "I know, but it's not going to work, is it?"

McKay could barely look him in the eye. "I can get it to work. I just need a little more time."

"John." Teyla approached him. She also knew what he was thinking but needed to ask anyway. "What are you doing?"

"I've been thinking about this." He rubbed the back of his neck wearily. "Your Sheppard is probably trapped in the Gate because of me."

McKay stared at him for a moment then shook his head. "No. No. I can do this. Go back to the Jumper."

Sheppard moved closer. "Look, I got trapped in there because the Wraith fired on the Gate as I entered it. The same thing happened to your Sheppard, and that must have pushed me through. Maybe we can do the same thing and get him out."

"Don't ask me to do this." McKay was looking at him with something akin to pleading in his eyes.

"You don't have time to try anything else." His voice was weak but steady. "You have to hit it with the energy equivalent to a Wraith weapon's blast as I cross the event horizon."

"No! If I can't get Sheppard out, how the hell…," he paused, mouth hanging open in stunned realization. "You figured out this was probably the only way, didn't you? You didn't need to come here to show us where the labs are. You came here to do this."

"Rodney, I'm dying. Nothing can prevent it. It's turning out to be a short, but very ugly death. I don't want it, quite frankly." Sheppard's voice was so quiet only Rodney, Teyla and Ronon could hear him. "Look, it may not work, but what else are you going to do?"

"You cannot be serious." Teyla grabbed his arm.

"I am very serious." He suddenly closed his eyes and swayed alarmingly. Ronon grabbed his other arm to support him.

"John!" Teyla tightened her grip.

"I'm okay." He swallowed and looked at her then turned to McKay. His voice was a hoarse whisper. "You have to try. Come back after the Wraith are gone and see if I'm in there. I waited in there for ten thousand years, I can wait a little longer to die. You never know, maybe going through again will fix me."

McKay stared at him for a moment then looked pleadingly at Teyla and Ronon. She was watching Sheppard, a mixture of loss and pain on her face.

"Rodney, what's going on?" Elizabeth asked.

"Sheppard, this Sheppard, wants to go into the wormhole thinking he'll force the Gate to send our Sheppard through."

"Excuse me?"

Sheppard could sense what was coming, an argument in which he wasn't participating. He turned and looked for the radio in Teyla's tac vest. She slipped it out of the pocket, turned it on and handed it to him.

"It may be the only chance you have to get him out."

"No. I can't let you do it."

"Elizabeth, we don't have time for this."

"No, we don't." Caldwell agreed. "You have nine minutes before we start beaming everyone out. I also suggest you get that Jumper in the air. There's just enough time for it to dock with the Daedalus before we have to get out of here."

Elizabeth didn't hesitate. "Lt. Bryce, do as the Colonel says. Get the Jumper to the Daedalus now. They'll beam everyone up."

"Yes, Ma'am." The young woman's voice replied. Within seconds, the hatch close and the craft rose off the ground.

Sheppard didn't wait to push his point. He glared at McKay while he spoke. "You heard what I said before. It's worth the risk."

McKay blinked and swallowed hard. "He's right, Elizabeth. It might work."

The Major licked his lips and nodded thanks. He knew that this was impossibly difficult for the man who was his other self's friend. McKay nodded once in response and started working on the computer.

"John." Elizabeth said then there was a long silence. Only the sound of the puddle and the McKay's frantic typing could be heard. When she spoke again, they could hear resignation in her voice. "Okay. Do it."

McKay snapped his fingers at the technician monitoring the generator. "Check the power levels and connections. We'll have only one shot at this."

"Yes, Sir." The young man responded as he checked the readings. "Ready."

Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon waited while McKay and his people made the necessary adjustments. The time on his feet was taking its toll on Sheppard, but he didn't dare sit down. He knew he might not be able to stand up again. Ronon changed his grip to hold him steady.

"Thanks." Sheppard whispered.

Ronon grunted in return, not trusting his voice.

After a couple of minutes, McKay stopped typing and looked up at him. "We're ready. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"No."

"Well…," McKay started then stopped. "No. I know. Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"As soon as you step through, I'll send a pulse of energy equal to a blast from a Wraith ship." McKay swallowed again. His mouth was dry at the thought of what they were about to do. He didn't want to do this. "Wait, maybe I should try just sending the energy pulse first, before you…"

"Like you said there isn't enough time. Don't hesitate. Hit the switch as soon as I'm gone." Sheppard glanced up at Ronon. "Can you…?"

Ronon nodded and helped him turn toward the Gate. Teyla took Sheppard's other arm when he stumbled. They stopped a couple of feet from the puddle and he waved them off. He looked at each of them in turn.

"Thanks. Tell your Sheppard…" He shook his head when he saw Teyla's distress. She knew what he meant. "Just in case, tell him thanks for the chance to see what happened here."

"I will." She said as she and Ronon backed away. They hurried over to McKay.

Sheppard turned to look at them and raised a hand. When McKay nodded, he walked through the event horizon. The instant he disappeared, McKay pressed a key on his computer. Apart from a few lights twinkling on the instruments around them, nothing seemed to happen.

Ronon glared at him. "Nothing happened! It didn't work!"

"Yes, it did. The energy pulse was sent." McKay was already studying the monitors. He tapped his radio. "Atlantis?"

"Rodney, he's here! John's here!" Elizabeth almost shouted.

"Are you sure it's our Sheppard?" McKay demanded.

"Stand by." She responded. They could here sounds of running and other voices. "He's wearing his BDUs and a tac vest and has a P-90. There's no scar on his face or arm. It's him. What about Maj. Sheppard?"

McKay turned to another computer and rapidly hit several keys. He stared at the screen then typed something else. Finally, he looked up at Teyla and Ronon, shaking his head. "He's not in the buffer. Elizabeth? Didn't he come through?"

"No. Where is he?"

"Radek, is in the buffer there?"

"Dr. McKay? I'm sorry to break this up, but we have to go." Caldwell's voice interrupted them. "Shut down the naquadah generator and your equipment. We start beam out in three minutes."

Zelenka responded, "I don't think so, Rodney, but I'll double check"

"Damn it! Okay, let me know as soon as you can." McKay looked around. "Okay, don't just stand there, shut it down."


	9. Chapter 9

A man tumbled through the event horizon at running speed and slid about twenty feet before stopping. A P-90 clattered across the floor with him. Breathing heavily, he feebly attempted to rise, but fell forward instead.

"Rodney, he's here! John's here!" Elizabeth almost shouted as she and Beckett ran towards the prone figure. She stood aside as Beckett and two medial technicians knelt next to him, checking his breathing and pulse, and for injuries.

"Are you sure it's our Sheppard?" McKay demanded loudly over the speakers

"Stand by." She waited as the doctor and his technicians gently turned him over. Beckett glanced up at her and nodded. "He's wearing his BDUs and a tac vest and has a P-90. There's no scar on his face or arm. It's him. What about Maj. Sheppard?"

There was a long pause. "He's not in the buffer. Elizabeth? Didn't he come through?"

"No. Where is he?" She looked at Zelenka.

"Radek, is in the buffer there?" McKay was frantic.

"Dr. McKay? I'm sorry to break this up, but we have to go." Caldwell's voice interrupted them. "Shut down the naquadah generator and your equipment. We start beam out in three minutes."

Zelenka shook his head without looking up from the computer, "I don't think so, Rodney, but I'll double check"

"Damn it! Okay, let me know as soon as you can." The communications from 749 abruptly ended.

Everyone in the Gate room except Beckett and his team froze, feeling the loss of the man that had been in their midst for such a brief time. The Gate suddenly shut down broke the moment.

"Is he okay?" Elizabeth asked the doctor, suddenly frightened for this Sheppard. He was pale and unmoving.

Beckett looked up. "He's alive and breathing. I need to get him to the infirmary before I can tell you anything else."

A gurney appeared and Sheppard was lifted on to it. In seconds, he and the medical team vanished down the corridor heading to the infirmary.

Elizabeth hesitated before following. She climbed the stairs to the ops area and stood next to the technician manning communications console. "Open a channel to the Daedalus, please."

The technician toggled a control. "Ready, Dr. Weir."

"Daedalus, this is Atlantis."

A moment later, Caldwell's voice came back. "Daedalus here."

"Has everyone been evacuated yet, Colonel?"

"The last group will be coming up in a minute. We'll break orbit and head into hyperspace immediately they're onboard. How is Col. Sheppard?"

"He's unconscious. Dr. Beckett has taken him to the infirmary." She stared down at the Gate. "Do you know if the Wraith were able to detect our presence there?"

"I don't think so." He paused. "The last of the away team is onboard, Doctor. We'll be back at Atlantis in six hours."

"Thank you, Colonel."

"Elizabeth?" McKay broke in.

"Yes, Rodney?"

"How's Sheppard doing?" He was not even trying to keep the concern out of his voice.

"I don't know yet. Carson just took him to the infirmary. I'm going down there now."

"What about Maj. Sheppard?"

Elizabeth looked at Zelenka who shook his head in resignation. She nodded, "He didn't make it. There's nothing in the buffer here."

There was a long pause. "Keep us posted, will you?"

She knew there was more than one worried person standing on the bridge of the Daedalus with him, and completely understood. "Of course, I'll let you know as soon as there's any news."

----------

"One, two, three, go." Beckett and two of his staff quickly lifted the unconscious man from the gurney to an examination table.

"Doctor." The young man held out a gloved hand. It had blood on it.

"Damn." Beckett quickly and carefully checked Sheppard's head for injury. It appeared to be a small cut, and was oozing blood. He turned on his penlight and gently opened one eye at a time, flicking the light across each. He was relieved to see both pupils reacted normally. He spoke to the medical technicians and nurses as he put on his stethoscope. "Right, get his vitals, and full blood work. I want everything, including DNA. I want to get him under the scanner as soon as possible."

They worked quickly and quietly, the all too frequent business generated in this galaxy making them a well oiled machine. By the time Elizabeth arrived, Beckett was studying the monitor as the scanner moved down Sheppard's body. Gauze held a dressing in place on the side of his head. A visible spot of blood on the dressing and the fact that he still appeared to be unconscious alarmed her.

"Carson?" She spoke softly as she approached. "What happened?"

He didn't take his eyes from the monitor. "Well, he has a concussion. Ronon said he appeared uninjured a few steps before the Gate, so John was probably hit by some debris from the blast that trapped him."

"Is it serious? Is that why he's unconscious?" She asked anxiously.

He compressed his mouth and shook his head slowly once. "It doesn't look too serious. He does have multiple minor cuts and bruises, also probably from debris. We're running the blood work, including DNA, but it'll be a little while before I start getting the results. He's stable, though. I think he was out of breath because he was running when he entered the Gate, just like everyone else. His heart rate and breathing returned to normal pretty quickly, and his oxygen saturation level is good, too."

Beckett paused, frowning. She was suddenly suspicious. "What? What else?"

"It will be a few days or weeks before I know if there are any long term effects from everything that's happened. We've never encountered anything like this before. Even Teal'c being trapped in the buffer was different. John traded places with someone who was in the buffer for thousands of years, and then traded places again. And, now, Maj. Sheppard is gone. What happened to his pattern?"

Elizabeth folded her arms tightly and watched the scanner make its slow journey. She was trying to will it to find nothing wrong. "We don't know. Radek will work on it until Rodney gets back."

He turned off the scanner and motioned for two orderlies to bring over the gurney. "I want to finish getting him cleaned up and settled into bed now."

"Okay, keep me posted." She turned to leave.

"How long before the Daedalus gets back?"

She glanced at her watch. "A little less than six hours. Rodney asked me to let them know how John is. I'd better go do it."

"Well, you can tell Rodney he's stable and has a concussion. That's all I can say for certain right now. I'll let you know the moment he wakes up or I have any results." He looked her over with a physician's eye. "You should get some rest."

Her smile was a little shaky. "I will. And, by the way, you look like you need to do the same."

"Aye. I know."

----------

"Unscheduled off-world activation." Chuck yelled when the Gate began its activation sequence.

Elizabeth hurried out of her office as the wormhole formed. "We have no off-world teams."

Another technician watched a computer screen. "It's Dr. McKay's IDC."

"Let them in." She ordered as she walked toward the stairs. The shield dissolved.

"Atlantis, this is McKay."

"Go ahead, Rodney." Elizabeth responded.

"We're coming in on the Puddle Jumper. Is the Gate room clear?"

She looked over the railing to see the Marines quickly moving out of the way. "All clear. You can come through."

The Jumper emerged from the event horizon then turned and rose to the bay above. Two minutes later McKay, Teyla and Ronon ran down the stairs.

"How is he?" McKay asked Elizabeth at the foot of the stairs.

"Alive and stable." She said as they all turned down the corridor to go to the infirmary. "Where is the Daedalus?"

"I figured we were close enough to the space Gate above M6R-492. Caldwell said they'd go back to 749 in a couple of hours to see what damage the Wraith have done. They'll get here sometime tomorrow."

"Is he awake?" Teyla asked.

"No, John was barely conscious when he came through the Gate, and collapsed immediately." Elizabeth replied as they walked to the transporter. "Are you sure Maj. Sheppard wasn't in the buffer on 749?"

McKay's eyes were bleak. "Yes, I'm sure. There was something for a second then it was gone. The buffer was empty. He's gone."

----------

Beckett looked up from the data pad cradled in his arm as the four of them entered. "I was just going to call you. He's beginning to stir."

"How is he?" McKay asked hurriedly.

"So far, the results of the blood tests look good, but I don't have much back yet."

He led them to another part of the infirmary, the room normally used for recovery from surgery. It was constantly manned by at least one doctor and a duty nurse when there were any patients and had all the necessary emergency equipment if a crisis arose. Today, there was only one patient, Sheppard.

"Any change, Jennifer?" Beckett asked the young woman standing next to Sheppard's bed.

"No, but he is coming around, Doctor." She gave a small, reassuring smile as Elizabeth, McKay, Teyla and Ronon gathered at the foot of the bed. Beckett went to stand at the side of the bed. He took in the heart monitor and pulse ox meter readings in with a short, practiced glance then put on his stethoscope to listen to Sheppard's heart and lungs.

Sheppard took a deep breath and his eyes snapped open. He looked around at them. "Did it work? Is he okay?"

Before anyone could comprehend what he meant or even speak he squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his face with trembling hands.

"John?" Elizabeth asked hesitantly.

He frowned as he felt the bandage on his head. "Was I hit?"

"I think you were probably hit by some of the debris from one of the Wraith blasts as you entered the event horizon." Beckett relied. "You have a concussion as well as quite a few bruises and small cuts."

Sheppard peered at him with bleary eyes then at the others. He was visibly unsettled. "Damn. I had the weirdest dream."

They all exchanged quick glances. McKay asked, "Dream? What kind of dream?"

Sheppard cleared his throat and asked for water. He frowned while he sipped some from the glass Dr. Keller gave him.

"Rodney was saying I got stuck in the Gate buffer on 749 because a blast hit just as I entered. I didn't come out, but another me did. It was the Sheppard that went back in time with the…other…Elizabeth." His voice trailed off as he saw their faces change. "What?"

"Did someone come and talk to you just now, before we got here?" Beckett asked as he raised his eyebrows questioningly at Jennifer Keller. She shook her head.

"No, why? What's going on?" Sheppard was more alert and suddenly very suspicious.

Elizabeth replied as evenly as she could. "It wasn't a dream, John."

"The other Sheppard didn't die in the crash ten thousand years ago." McKay added quickly. "He did come through the Gate instead of you."

"He was helping the Ancients fight the Wraith and got stuck in the buffer during the evacuation of Den…Denasus." Sheppard asked. He swallowed hard and stared down at the bed. They could see he was trying to order confused thoughts. He finally looked up at Beckett then McKay. "How do I know this? What the hell is going on?"

They all turned to McKay. His reaction was instant. "Don't look at me! I don't know."

Beckett spoke up. "Well, I know this. It's going to be a few hours before I get more test results. In the meantime, I want to do a full examination of my patient now he's awake. So, you all need leave."

"Wait." Sheppard turned his head too fast and the room started to spin. He planted his hands on the bed, breathing deeply to combat the dizziness and nausea that suddenly threatened to overwhelm him.

Beckett leaned over, concern on his face. "It's okay, just take slow, deep breaths. Dizzy?"

"Yeah, just a little." He replied a little breathlessly, waving off the penlight that had suddenly appeared in the doctor's hand.

"That's the concussion. I don't recommend you make any more sudden moves for a while." Beckett said softly then turned to the others with a sterner tone. "Visiting hours are over, ladies and gentlemen. I'll let you know when you can come back."

McKay started to protest, but Ronon grabbed him by the shoulder and guided him out. Elizabeth and Teyla followed, both glancing back as they left.

"Carson, I need to know what happened." Sheppard ground out through clenched teeth. "Is it true? Did the Sheppard that went back in time survive?"

"Yes, it looks like he did." Beckett spoke gently. He felt deep sympathy for his friend. "Be patient for just a little while. The test results will be able to…"

Sheppard interrupted. "Is he in me? Did we merge like McKay and Cadman?"

"I don't know. We have to wait for the test results, and I'm sure Rodney will need to run his diagnostics on the Gate." Beckett said as he watched some of the color returning to his face. He was finally able to examine Sheppard's eyes, happy to see the pupils were still equal and responsive. "We'll need to get you under the scanner again and run a few more tests in the morning, so I want you to get some sleep."

"Carson…"

"No arguments, John. There's plenty of time." Beckett sincerely hoped that statement was true, but winced inwardly at the confusion and pain in Sheppard's eyes. He sighed and pulled up a tall stool. "Alright. Remember Rodney could actually hear Laura's thoughts and converse with her? Are you hearing anything?"

Sheppard closed his eyes for several seconds, a frown of concentration furrowing his brow. He stopped himself from shaking his head when he opened his eyes and looked at the doctor. "No, it's just that I…wait, how long was I in the Gate?"

"Almost three days." Beckett held his breath.

"I know what happened. I feel like it was me here. I know everything he said and did." Sheppard's breathing quickened as he thought. His eyes darted around the room then fixed on Beckett. "He said I…he was dying. His DNA was damaged and you said his whole body was shutting down."

"John, listen to me." Beckett cursed inwardly. This was as close to panic he'd ever seen John Sheppard. He knew it was due to the concussion and, if he had really gained the Major's memories, the certain knowledge he was about to die from catastrophic illness. "There's no indication the same thing is happening to you."

"You don't know yet. He felt okay at first." He was trying fight through a blinding headache and dizziness. "If I got his memories, what else did I get?"

"I'll be getting more test results any time now. Everything so far looks normal." Beckett squeezed his shoulder hard to get his attention. "Listen to me. It stands to reason that, if you also got the damaged DNA, you would have gotten everything else. You'd be just as sick as he was when he walked into the Gate on 749 a couple of hours ago. How do you feel?"

Sheppard took several slow, deep breaths, working to slow his heart rate and breathing. He knew this reaction wasn't helping him. "Um, headache, dizziness, some nausea."

Beckett nodded, relieved to see him easily getting past the momentary panic. "Those symptoms are probably just the concussion. Anything else?"

He thought for a moment. "No."

"Then let's wait for the test results before jumping to conclusions. Okay?" The doctor smiled encouragingly. Sheppard nodded once, the soft beeping of the heart monitor confirming his normal equilibrium was returning. "Now, I want you to get some rest. I'll be back as soon as I have any news."

Beckett busied himself checking the monitors and IV then entering the readings into Sheppard's chart. He left only when he saw his patient's eyes close and breathing slow to a familiar deep, steady rhythm.

"I'll be back soon. Keep a close eye on him", he told the young doctor in a low tone as he walked out.


	10. Chapter 10

Beckett was not surprised by the group of concerned faces that greeted him as he approached his office. "I thought I told you to come back later."

"Yes, yes, yes. We know what you said." McKay dismissed his comment. "How is he? Does he really know what happened the last three days?"

"Let's go in here." Beckett led them through to an empty room. His office was far too small for five people. Once they were settled on chairs or beds or, in Ronon's case, leaning against a wall, he indicated the data pad in his hand. "I have the first results from the blood work here. So far, everything looks normal."

"What do you mean, so far?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well, there hasn't been enough time to get the DNA results and some of the more complex blood tests back. What I have here, though, agrees with the scan I did on John a little while ago. Except for the concussion, everything looks normal."

"Is the concussion serious?" Teyla asked.

"It isn't severe, but we are keeping a close watch on him. We'll wake him every two hours or so to make sure he remains coherent and there are no complications. I'll run another scan tomorrow, too."

"But what about what he was saying? He knew what happened." McKay said.

Beckett took a deep breath before answering. He'd seen a lot over the last three years, but the events of the last three days were stretching even his experienced mind. "John said he knows everything that happened to Maj. Sheppard."

"Everything?" Elizabeth repeated with a sickening feeling in her stomach.

"Everything, including the fact that he was dying, and how." Beckett could see their discomfort grow. "Beside a severe headache and some nausea, the concussion is causing John some disorientation. Combined with the detailed memories and feelings of someone else with his own set of eyes, so to speak, he's a bit overwhelmed by it."

Teyla asked, "How is he, Carson?"

"As I'm sure you can imagine, it freaked him out for a moment." Beckett gave them a brief, humorless smile. "It must be extremely confusing but, John being who he is, came around pretty quickly."

"When will you know if he'll be alright?"

"When can we see him?"

"What…"

Beckett held up a hand to stop the questions. "Wait, wait. First, I need to wait for all of the DNA to come back before I'll know anything for sure. It's going to take a couple of days. I'm hopeful, though. Apart from the effects of the concussion, John says he has no other symptoms. With the blood work we already have…"

McKay snapped his fingers several times. "Of course. You'd expect him to be sick if any of the damage to his DNA came through as well."

"Yes, Rodney, but I won't know for sure until all of the tests are complete." He rubbed the back of his neck in near exhaustion. "John needs to rest for a while. I want to run more tests later and I don't want him to overdo it until I know he's alright."

Elizabeth was the first to concede. "Of course."

The others nodded in unison, agreeing with her.

Beckett was relieved. "It's late and I think everyone could use some rest. I suggest you all go to bed. As I said, I'll let you know as soon as I have something."

"I don't mind sticking around." Ronon said.

"I won't have anything definitive until the morning." The doctor shook his head. "Go get some sleep. All of you. That's an order."

----------

Sheppard woke with a start. He looked around the darkened room, trying to remember where he was. It felt like someone with a jackhammer was determined to get into…no, out of, his skull. A small light came on in the far corner of the room. He could see now that he was in the infirmary then it all came flooding back.

"Colonel?" A figure approached, blocking the light. "How are you feeling?"

He took a moment to place the voice. "Dr. Cole?"

"Yes, that's right." She moved so that the light fell more on her face and spoke softly. "Do you need anything, Colonel?"

He didn't dare shake his head. Instead, he reached up and pressed shaky fingertips against his right brow, trying to silence the furious little man with the jackhammer. "Uh, water?"

"Sure." The doctor turned the overhead light on low then pressed the button to slowly raise the head of the bed. She half filled a small glass and gave it to him. "Drink slowly."

He sipped the cool liquid, letting it relieve his dry throat and help clear his head. She waited for him to drain the glass.

"Headache?" She asked as she took the glass from him and pulled out a penlight. She quickly examined his eyes to be sure nothing was amiss.

He grimaced at the bright light. "Yeah."

"I can give you some acetaminophen for it." She turned to a nearby table and picked up a small bottle. After shaking two gel coated caplets into a medicine cup, she handed him the cup and a partially refilled glass. "I'm sorry I can't give you anything stronger, but we can't risk it with a concussion."

"I know. Thanks." He swallowed the painkillers and gave her back the glass and cup. He looked at the door and could see the lighting in the next room was also low. "Where's Carson?"

"Asleep, I hope." As they talked, she checked the monitors and IV flow then jotted notes in a data pad.

He blinked at her, trying to follow her answer. "Why? What time is it?"

"It's three in the morning and he's exhausted. Carson's been up far too much of the last few days."

"He has been looking like death warmed over the last couple of days." He thought for a moment then frowned. "God. This is too creepy."

She squeezed his arm gently. "I can't even imagine."

"Neither can I." He said with an edge of sarcasm.

"Okay, I think it's time you got back to sleep."

"Yeah." He responded wearily as she pressed the control to lower the bed again. He carefully turned onto his side, facing the door. Dr. Cole made sure the IV line and monitor leads didn't tangle then turned off the light and went back to her desk.

She didn't notice that he stayed awake for a long time. He needed to know and understand all of the memories that were pretending to be his own.

---------

"I'm feeling better. See, I can sit up without puking and even the headache isn't as bad." Sheppard said impatiently. The jackhammer had been replaced by a pickax, so he was being truthful. He was sitting up but moving as little as possible. Any quick movement caused precisely what he was denying, and Beckett knew it.

John, I still don't have enough of the test results to know if everything is…well, that…"

"I'm not falling apart from the inside out. I feel fine, Carson. I just want to talk to Rodney for a while. Nothing more." Sheppard said with determination.

"I want you to take it easy until I know more." Beckett was equally determined.

"Just talk. I'm not going to go run laps or anything. I'll be right here." He exhaled heavily and looked away in exasperation. Half the morning had been spent doing tests. "Look, you've been running tests on me for days. I've been scanned, poked, bled and prodded so much I'm going to…"

Beckett's startled expression stopped him and he suddenly realized just what he'd said. "See what I mean? Carson, I have to talk to Rodney. I need to know what happened."

"Well, I suppose a few minutes wouldn't hurt." The doctor relented. There was something too familiar in his friend's eyes. It took him a moment to remember that he's seen the same haunted expression just two days before, in duplicate hazel eyes. He activated his transceiver. "Dr. McKay, this is Beckett."

"What? What's wrong?" McKay's response was instantaneous, and tinged with fear.

"Nothing. Col. Sheppard wants to talk to you. Can you come to the infirmary, please?"

"Yes, yes, of course. I'll be there in five minutes."

"He'll be here in a few minutes." The momentary smile faded. He pulled over a tall stool and sat next to the bed. "John, you still don't hear anything? You don't hear his thoughts?"

Sheppard shook his head once and regretted the motion. Even that small gesture caused the room to tilt drunkenly. He waited for the feeling to subside before speaking quietly.

"No. No voices. I just have a few extra weeks of someone else's memories running around in my head."

Beckett tried unsuccessfully to understand what that must be like. He finally stopped trying. "I…so you know everything he did during that time? When do the memories start?"

"Right at the point he came through the Gate from Earth. Just like Elizabeth said, it's different. Everything happened differently." He paused for a long time, eyes slightly unfocused in thought. The vaguely haunted expression was still there when he looked back at the doctor. "The shield failed and everyone died. Only Elizabeth, Radek and he got out in the Jumper. It was so fast."

Beckett grimaced inwardly at the interruption when McKay rushed in. He was closely followed by Ronon then Teyla. Each stopped short when they saw Sheppard sitting up and staring at them. McKay stared back, looking him up and down then at Beckett.

"What happened? Is he okay?"

"Nothing happened." Beckett answered.

"I'm fine, Rodney." Sheppard said immediately.

"Well, we don't know…"

"Okay, I'm probably fine." Sheppard amended his response. He looked at them and suddenly felt a little uncertain, but the concern on their faces convinced him. He exhaled heavily. "I just want to talk for a few minutes."

"Oh. Okay." McKay pulled up a chair and sat down.

Sheppard didn't waste time. "Where is he?"

"He's just gone. I checked the buffer on 749 and both Zelenka and I confirmed he never made it to the Gate here. There's no sign of him." McKay squirmed in his chair.

"I don't think he wanted to make it." Ronon's observation surprised them all.

"Ronon, I don't…" Teyla started to admonish him.

He interrupted her. "It's true. He knew he was dying and that Beckett couldn't do anything about it. Sheppard preferred to die doing something."

They all looked at the Colonel, knowing that they were discussing a man who had the same feelings and thoughts as the one who sat in front of them. He was definitely troubled by the turn the discussion had taken.

"Ronon's right. He was kind of hoping he wouldn't make it." Sheppard tried to swallow the tightness that formed in his throat. He was certain he would've felt and done the same thing. He looked a McKay. "How the hell did I get his memories?"

"I'm not sure." The astrophysicist frowned and shrugged. He'd been wrestling with the question since Sheppard first mentioned the Perollinum some time back. "I've been trying to figure out how you knew about the Perollinum when you had that fever. The only thing I can think of is that some part of the other you was transmitted to the Atlantis Gate and sat there until you, the genetic duplicate, came through."

"I thought that we were transmitted as a discreet package." Beckett stated.

"I said I'm not sure, but this is the only thing I can think of right now, so go with me, will you?" McKay glared at him for a moment then turned back to Sheppard. "The Wraith must have hit the Gate just as the Major entered the wormhole. That may have caused a slight leak of his pattern, sending a tiny piece to this Gate. That piece waited in the buffer until you came through from Earth."

"But, what about now?" Sheppard asked. His head was beginning to feel like the man with the jackhammer was setting up shop again.

McKay saw his growing discomfort and rushed on. "Well, this time, you were already in the buffer. You were completely intact. It must have just allowed only you and that part of him that you didn't have, his memories after he first came to Atlantis to be transmitted. Kind of like synching a PDA."

Sheppard stared at him. "Rodney, that makes no sense. Gate technology wouldn't support it. Would it?"

"I said I wasn't sure, but it's the only thing I can think of." McKay responded with only a touch of defensiveness. When he continued, even that small tone disappeared. He knew there would probably never be a good enough answer to this. "I have a lot more data now. Once it's analyzed, I may know more."

Beckett saw the little color that had been in his patient's face was quickly draining. He put on his most 'don't even bother trying to argue with me' face. "I think that's enough for now. You can come back later."

"Of course." Teyla made the first move. She smiled warmly at Sheppard and squeezed his arm. "John, we will return as soon as Carson says it is alright."

----------

Twelve hours later, Col. Caldwell walked into Elizabeth's office. He found Beckett and the rest of Sheppard's team talking with her.

"Col. Caldwell." She rose from her chair and indicated a vacant seat. "Welcome back. Thank you for everything you did to help in recovering Col. Sheppard."

He nodded and sat down. "You're welcome. How is he?"

Beckett responded. "He's resting. I've gotten some preliminary test results back. We checked for the mutations we knew about first and, so far, it's normal. As I was saying, his DNA seems to be unaffected by what happened."

"That's great, Carson. Are you sure?" Elizabeth didn't know whether to be relieved or not. The others leaned a little closer, hoping for confirmation.

"His blood chemistry is good so far and the two scans I've done are normal." He held up one hand to prevent a premature celebration. "Please remember this is preliminary. I want to see the rest of the DNA results and run them again on a regular basis for a while to be sure. However, I am cautiously, very cautiously, optimistic."

Elizabeth nodded, understanding his concern. "When will he be released from the infirmary?"

"If all goes well, tomorrow morning. The concussion is still causing some problems, and I just want to keep an eye on him until I get more of the DNA back."

----------

"Well?" Sheppard eyed his doctor with both hope and mild annoyance. He was sitting on edge of his infirmary bed, still dressed in white scrubs. A pile of clean, neatly folded BDUs lay next to him.

Beckett more or less ignored him as he reviewed the new information on the chart. Sheppard was not an ideal patient, not by a very long shot. His inability to sit still and a remarkable capacity to recover quickly from illness or injury made him anxious to escape at the earliest possible moment. If pressed, Beckett might even admit that he had, on occasion, released the Colonel earlier than he might anyone else. Well, except maybe Ronon. Beckett flicked his eyes in the direction of the Satedan, watching as he leaned against the doorframe.

Sheppard exhaled heavily and carefully rubbed the small cut on the side of his head. "Doc?"

"Well…Hmm…" The doctor continued to read for several more seconds. He was fully aware of his patient's impatience, but he was not going to relent this time. This whole situation was unique, completely one of a kind, hopefully never to be repeated. He shuddered inside. It could have ended up so much more horribly than it appeared to have done.

"Carson?" Sheppard frowned at him. When Beckett looked up at him, he raised an eyebrow. "Is everything alright? Can I go?"

Beckett inhaled deeply and held it for a second. He nodded slowly as he exhaled. "I think so."

"Think so?" Both eyebrows went up now.

"John, I told you. It's going to take a little more time to get all the test results, and I want to run them again a couple more times over the next few weeks at least." He glanced down at the data pad. "Your blood chemistry is normal, and the preliminary DNA results look good."

"So, I can go?" Sheppard asked hopefully.

"Yes, you can go." Becket replied, putting his hand up to stop Sheppard sliding off the bed. "Before you do, though, there are some ground rules. There will be no, and I mean no, strenuous exercise until I say so. That means you will not run, jog, spar with anyone, go off-world, play with firearms or any other weapons, or do anything else that you might even remotely think I would consider one of the above. Do you understand?"

"Thanks." Sheppard glared at Ronon when the big man snorted in amusement. He looked back at Beckett. "Am I allowed to walk?"

"Slowly." Beckett stopped him again. "Please remember that any sudden movement will probably make you dizzy for a few more days. If that happens and doesn't pass quickly, or you have any blurred vision, nausea or other symptoms, come back immediately."

"Sure." He tried to get off the bed, but the Doctor stopped him again. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious about this, John. Concussions, and everything else that has happened, are not to be taken lightly."

Sheppard sighed and inclined his head in acknowledgement. "I know, Carson. I'll be careful. I promise."

"Thank you. I want to see you back here later this afternoon. I'll have more test results by then." Beckett stepped back. "For now, you're free to go."

"Thanks, Doc!" Sheppard grinned at him and slowly dropped off the bed. The movement caused the room to spin slightly, driving home Beckett's warning. The expression on Beckett's face indicated that the doctor was not amused his patient apparently ignored it.


	11. Chapter 11

"I've looked at the sensor readings from the planet. There was a transmitter on the Gate that sent a short burst signal when we activated the Gate or and the naquadah generator. That's what the Wraith picked up." McKay said with disgust. "We can deactivate it as soon as we arrive. I'll disable the Gate until we can determine there is no damage."

"Are we going to be able to use the Gate there again?" Elizabeth asked, almost wanting the answer to be no. She glanced at Sheppard, just as Teyla and Col. Caldwell did. Ronon watched his friend openly. His only reaction was a slight elevation of one eyebrow.

"I don't know. We need to run extensive diagnostics, but I don't think I'd want to risk sending anyone through again. If there is anything left there, we should use the Daedalus to get it."

"Well, the bunkers were well shielded. The Wraith could pretty much level the structures on the surface without causing damage to the labs." Sheppard offered.

"Remember, the Daedalus needs to leave for Earth in six days. If we're going to head back to 749, we need to do it soon." Col. Caldwell stood up and walked to the door of the conference room.

"We definitely have to go back before you leave. Long range sensors showed the Wraith left the system within an hour of our departure, and none are in the vicinity. No-one's been near it since, but they could decide to go back at any time." McKay sat forward as he spoke. He looked from Elizabeth to Sheppard.

"We should get all of the materials out of the labs as soon as possible. They're shielded, but if the Wraith discover them, they're not indestructible." Sheppard added.

"John, you are not thinking of going, are you?" Teyla asked skeptically.

Elizabeth shook her head. "Carson is not going to go for that."

"It's been a week. I'm fine." He was getting tired of the kid glove treatment. "We can do the same thing we did last time, take a Jumper and…"

"Sheppard." Ronon was still troubled by the situation, as they all were. He'd liked the other Sheppard and was worried about his friend.

"What?" Sheppard saw their discomfort, but it was a moment before he understood it. He impatiently waved one hand. "You know what I mean."

"Yes, we do, but you need to convince Carson that you should go." Elizabeth said in as even a tone as she could. The frequent slips in expressing the Major's memories as his own were worrisome to everyone, but particularly to Sheppard. So far, McKay and Beckett were not able to present an alternate explanation of what happened.

"Okay." He agreed, even if a little reluctantly.

"I have to get back." Caldwell said as the door opened for him to leave. "Dr. McKay, can you be ready by 1400 tomorrow?"

"That'll put us in orbit around 749 at about dawn." McKay thought for a moment. He looked at Elizabeth, who nodded approval. "That's fine. We'll be ready."

Caldwell nodded and looked at everyone around the table. "Dr. Weir, Colonel."

"Thank you, Colonel." Elizabeth responded. He stepped through the door and it closed again. She looked back at Sheppard. "John, I seriously doubt that Carson will let you go."

He started to say something more, but stopped.

"What is it?" Elizabeth prompted when she saw his reluctance.

Sheppard scratched the back of his head. "I'm not sure. There was another lab the Ancients were eager to clean out."

"Why? What was there?" McKay looked up from his laptop. Teyla and Ronon had filled him in on the lab they'd seen on 749. Who knew what else was in Sheppard's head?

"I don't know. I…he…was assigned to the personnel in the labs he showed you. I just know it they thought it was critical. They were anxious to get everything out and back here."

"Why?" Elizabeth asked.

He shook his head slowly. "The comms were open so he overheard a lot of the traffic, but it was pretty chaotic. I think it took a hit from a Hive, but that's all he knew."

"That's it? That's all you have?"

"Rodney." Elizabeth warned in a low voice.

"Yes, that's all there is to remember. It was a mess, Rodney. There were Darts and Jumpers in dogfights all over the sky while the Hives and cruisers were in a pitched battle with the Ancient ships." Sheppard stared at some point past him as he searched the memories for more. "He saw an explosion and one of the other pilots said the building had been hit."

"Do you know which building it was, John?" Teyla prompted hopefully.

He looked down at the table, frowning. "I think he caught a glimpse of it when he showed you the labs, but he was feeling like crap by then so he wasn't really thinking about it."

----------

McKay glanced towards the open hatch of the Jumper to see if anyone was nearby, but only the hanger wall was visible. He quickly looked at Sheppard as he turned back to watch the HUD, trying to gauge his friend's mood. "I'd still like to know how you convinced Carson to let you come."

Sheppard tilted his head matter-of-factly to one side, but continued to watch the images taken by the Jumper on their last trip to 749. "I told him that we might only have a couple of hours, so we needed to get in and get out fast. We don't have the time to search the city for this place as well as clear out the two labs. Besides, I'm fine, and the next round of tests isn't due until next week."

"What's it like? Can you tell the difference between his memory and yours?" McKay couldn't resist asking. This was a unique phenomenon that he was dying to research. It added a new wrinkle to Gate technology that was never considered possible.

"Sort of, but I have to think about it to know it isn't me." This time, Sheppard looked at him. He thought for several seconds before continuing. "It different, but I can't say how. It's like I've been gone a very long time. I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone."

"Yeah, sorry." McKay winced inwardly, understanding that it must be a highly unsettling feeling. He decided it was time to change the subject. "See anything that might be the place?"

Sheppard turned back to the HUD. The image suddenly stopped moving and began to magnify then froze. He sat back, a look of disgust on his face. "Crap."

McKay looked from the HUD to Sheppard and back. "What? What is it?"

Sheppard pointed to a squat building at the center of the image. "I think it's the place we were at the first time."

"You think?" McKay squinted at it. He gave his friend a sidelong glance and pointed at Sheppard, to himself and back a couple of times. "Us we, or…"

"Us we, Rodney. This is from the other side." He touched the control again and the image zoomed in a little more. They could see a much larger hole in the far end of the building. Either Sheppard's explosives or the Wraith, or both, had done considerably more damage.

McKay exhaled heavily. "Well, whatever might have been there is certainly gone now."

"Maybe not." Sheppard scratched the back of his head. "The most important stuff was underground. The Ancient's masked the doors to the labs. The door to this one may be in one of the other rooms. What we're after is probably underground. They wanted to be sure it was safe from casual Wraith attacks."

"Casual?" McKay frowned at the odd choice of words.

"That's what they said. The Ancients put a lot of their off-world labs underground to protect them from prying eyes of visitors and any Wraith that might stumble over the locations." He raised an eyebrow and speculated, "There may be a lot of research waiting like buried treasure out there. Seen any references in the database?"

"Not yet, but we'll start looking harder."

----------

They'd been on the planet for three hours. McKay assigned a team of scientists and technicians to clear out the seed storage facility while Zelenka and another team worked in the weapons lab. McKay, of course, gave strict instructions to both teams on how he wanted work to progress.

Teyla and Ronon now waited as Sheppard and McKay searched a completely blank wall in the damaged building, Sheppard with an outstretched hand and McKay with a handheld sensor. This had been going on for the better part of thirty minutes, starting on the side the astrophysicist had been working on eleven days ago. The damage there was extensive.

McKay glared at Sheppard. "Did you really have to blow it up?"

"Yes, Rodney, I did." was Sheppard's only response.

They worked their way through the rooms, making sure nothing was missed.

"Are you sure it's this building?" Ronon asked lazily.

"No, not absolutely."

McKay turned to stare at him. "I thought you said…"

"I said I think this is the place." Sheppard continued running his hand across the wall. "It's as likely place as any."

They continued to scan the walls for several more minutes when a door suddenly snicked back and slid to one side.

"Coming?" Sheppard smiled happily at his team and stepped into a small, brightly lit vestibule. As they entered, he looked past them to a Marine. "Lieutenant, we'll be back in thirty."

"Yes, Sir." The young woman responded.

The door closed and another opened on the left, revealing a transporter. Moments later they were standing at the doorway to a room about twice the size of the conference room on Atlantis. It was lined with consoles and monitor screens. Everything came to life as Sheppard stepped into the room. McKay pulled his backpack off and rushed to one of the console. He quickly had his laptop out and connected to the console. He then began searching the Ancient system.

While he worked, Sheppard searched the room for hidden rooms. After several fruitless minutes, he went to see what McKay had found. Teyla and Ronon were already discreetly watching over his shoulders.

Sheppard watched the large screen hanging above the console. It didn't look promising. "Anything?"

"Well, it looks like this was a waste of time." McKay continued to try different commands on his laptop and the console. After a couple more minutes, he turned to his teammates. "Whatever was here is gone. The Ancients must have wiped the database before they left."

"Everything?" Sheppard asked as he looked at the few symbols that scrolled down the screen. "There's nothing left?"

"Nope. I've found a few empty folders, but that's all. Whoever deleted the research knew their business. There is no trace of any research, nothing." He turned off his laptop and unplugged it. "I have the folder names. If we're lucky, those might be project names that I can cross-reference in the Atlantis database."

"It must have been very important if they wanted to remove all trace of it here." Teyla observed.

"Yeah. I wonder what it was." Sheppard said with an unsettling suspicion.

"I don't know, but it probably wasn't good." McKay stood up and headed for the door, putting on his pack as he walked. "Let's go. I want to go check what's happening at the other labs."

----------

"What did Carson say?" Elizabeth looked across her desk at the Atlantis military commander.

"The last round of tests all came back normal. My DNA is normal, everything is where and what it should be." Sheppard grinned at her. "Apart from the spare memories in my head, he says I'm fine."

"Isn't he going to run another set of DNA comparisons in a couple of weeks?"

He grimaced. Some of those were not the simple swab in the cheek and were not fun. "In two weeks and, if those are normal, four weeks later, just for good luck. I'm beginning to think he likes poking holes in me."

Her smile was apologetic. "Well, he wants to be sure there are no lasting effects. It was a unique situation, John."

"Oh, I know." He scratched the back of his head.

"Good, you're both here." McKay hurried in, followed closely by Zelenka.

"What's wrong?" She asked, concerned at their serious expressions.

"I found out what the Ancients were researching in that lab on 749." McKay answered.

"Well, we think we've found it." Zelenka added uncertainly. "We've found only a reference in the database."

McKay glared at him. "What else could it be? Why else would they delete the entire database on 749?"

"McKay." Sheppard interrupted.

He stopped and blinked at Sheppard. "It looks like they were researching a final solution to the failed experiments in Pegasus, all of them."

Elizabeth felt a chill in her stomach, and when she glanced at Sheppard, she could see he felt the same chill. She asked the question even though she did not want to hear the answer.

"Final solution? Is that what I think you mean?"

Both McKay and Zelenka merely nodded, neither wanting to say it out loud.

Sheppard said it for them, a deep anger beginning to replace the cold. "They were researching a way to destroy all life, organic and replicator, in Pegasus?"

"Yes."

"Where's the research? How far along were they?" Elizabeth asked when she found her voice again.

McKay shook his head. "I don't know. We haven't found any details, just the reference in another file. They may have decided to stop the research and just deleted everything to do with it."

"The destruction of all life in an entire galaxy was probably too much for them to want to continue." Zelenka offered.

Sheppard stared at him. "This is the Ancients we're talking about. I don't think a little thing like that would've stopped them."

THE END


End file.
